What is the difference between an analytical balance and a precision balance?

An analytical balance provides readability of 0.1 mg or better, while a precision balance typically reads to 0.001 g or 0.01 g. Analytical balances include draft shields and are designed for highly sensitive measurements. Precision balances handle larger samples and are less affected by environmental conditions.

What readability do I need for my lab application?

You need a readability that is at least one-tenth of your smallest sample weight or required measurement increment. For example, measuring 100 mg samples may require 0.01 mg readability, while gram-level work may only need 0.01 g. Selecting higher readability than necessary increases cost without improving results.

Do lab balances need to be calibrated?

Yes, all lab balances require regular calibration to maintain accuracy. Calibration ensures measurements remain traceable to certified standards. Internal calibration simplifies this process by automating adjustments, while external calibration requires manual verification with certified weights. In regulated environments, calibration records must be documented and retained.

What is the difference between readability and repeatability?

Readability is the smallest increment of weight a balance will display. Repeatability is the degree of agreement between multiple measurements of the same mass, on the same balance, under the same conditions.

What is the best way to clean my balance to ensure accurate readings?

Inspect and clean before each use. A flannel cloth or soft brush works well for dusting and light cleaning. Use a non-abrasive cleaner for light spills, and a dry flannel cloth for glass parts. Set a regular maintenance schedule for deep cleaning to ensure optimal performance and instrument longevity.

Can vibration affect the accuracy of my balance?

Yes — even slight vibration from a heavy footstep can affect accuracy. Place the balance on a sturdy benchtop away from high-traffic areas such as hallways, elevators, stairways, and doors. If that placement is not possible, an anti-vibration table should be considered.

Out of Gas? The Effects of the Helium Shortage

It’s not only the balloons. Of course, with a helium shortage balloons are one of the first images that come to mind. What about all the celebrations, the birthdays, even the upcoming election victory gala? CBS reports that an annual hot air balloon race in New Mexico is feeling the effects, with only hydrogen balloons participating. The America’s Challenge race has had up to 14 teams participating. This year, they report, there are five.

Yet, helium is also used in MRI machines, cryogenics, lasers, welding, and more. Science and research may feel the most impact of any shortage.

The Deseret News documents that the shortage began in May of this year. Their report quotes a Federal Helium Reserve representative as pinning the shortage on “rising worldwide demand, coupled with short-term difficulties at helium plants around the world,” including those in Algeria, Australia, and Qatar, as well as a warm winter. “Lower demand for heating led to reductions in natural gas production and, consequently, less helium was recovered at the wellheads.”¹

Others point to a move by the US Congress to privatize the federal helium program and a subsequent downshift in American reserves. According to Popular Mechanics, “the Texas Panhandle is the United States’ helium capital. In the natural gas fields near Amarillo, the US government maintains the country’s largest helium storehouse. Today, the US alone produces 75 percent of the world’s helium.”²Yet, a combination of politics, complex geology, and declining reservoir production may be shifting the helium marketplace. The Christian Science Monitor summarizes, “The federal government is getting out of the business after more than eight decades, and so far private industry hasn’t stepped in to fill the void.”³

Rising prices may impact the scientific community before a lack of supply does. For researchers and academics on fixed budgets, price increases mean fewer experiments. The York Daily Record interviewed Moses Chan, Physics Professor, Penn State, who claimed laboratories across the US are suffering. “Scientific experiments across the country are slowing down or being shut down altogether,” Chan said. “This is a very serious problem.” ⁴

Professor Grace Parraga of the Robarts Research Institute at the University of Western Ontario told the Canadian Press in August, that “they’ve been unable to perform a clinical trial because of the high cost”⁵ of helium.

The Bureau of Land Management in Amarillo, Texas, which operates the Federal Helium Reserve, estimates that the “acute shortage is expected to continue through late 2013.”⁶The Helium Stewardship Act of 2012, introduced in the US Senate in April, seeks to “ensure the expedient and responsible draw-down of the Federal Helium Reserve in a manner that protects the interests of private industry, the scientific, medical, and industrial communities, commercial users, and Federal agencies, and for other purposes.”⁷

Until the shortage is remedied, the price is high and short-term expectations are, well, deflated.

¹Hollenhorst, John. “Helium Shortage Creating Trouble for Industry Health Care, Birthday Parties.” Deseret News. Retrieved October 2, 2012from https://www.deseretnews.com/article/865562506/Helium-shortage-creating-trouble-for-industry-health-care-birthday-parties.html?pg=all
²Magill, Bobby. “Why is There a Helium Shortage?” Popular Mechanics. Retrieved October 2, 2012from https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/health/a4046/why-is-there-a-helium-shortage-10031229/
³Belsie, Laurent. “Helium Shortage? Bureaucrats,Firms are Creating Too Little Hot Air.” The Christian Science Monitor, Retrieved October 2, 2012 from https://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/Energy-Voices/2012/1002/Helium-shortage-Bureaucrats-firms-are-creating-too-little-hot-air
⁴Reighart, Stephancie.“Helium Shortage Reaches York County.” York Daily Record/Sunday News, Retrieved October 2, 2012 from https://www.ydr.com/business/ci_21669008/helium-shortage-reaches-york-county/
⁵ Shingler, Benjamin. “Helium Shortage Putting Medical Research Up In The Air.” The Globe and Mail, The Canadian Press, Retrieved October 2, 2012 from https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/helium-shortage-putting-medical-research-up-in-the-air/article4466013/
⁶ Hollenhorst, John. “Helium Shortage Creating Trouble for Industry Health Care, Birthday Parties.” Deseret News. Retrieved October 2, 2012from https://www.deseretnews.com/article/865562506/Helium-shortage-creating-trouble-for-industry-health-care-birthday-parties.html?pg=all
⁷The HeliumStewardship Act of 2012, Retrieved October 2, 2012 from http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c112:S.2374:

Disclaimer: Cole-Parmer products are not approved or intended for, and should not be used for medical, clinical, surgical or other patient-oriented applications.

Out of Gas? The Effects of the Helium Shortage

Be the first to comment on "Out of Gas? The Effects of the Helium Shortage"

Leave a comment Cancel reply