A chondrometer is a
measuring instrument
A measuring instrument is a device to measure a physical quantity. In the physical sciences, quality assurance, and engineering, measurement is the activity of obtaining and comparing physical quantities of real-world objects and events. Establ ...
designed to determine the
bulk density Bulk density, also called apparent density or volumetric density, is a property of powders, granules, and other "divided" solids, especially used in reference to mineral components (soil, gravel), chemical substances, (pharmaceutical) ingredients ...
of
grain
A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit (caryopsis) – with or without an attached hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and legum ...
. Grain density is measured in kilograms per
hectolitre
The litre (international spelling) or liter (American English spelling) (SI symbols L and l, other symbol used: ℓ) is a metric unit of volume. It is equal to 1 cubic decimetre (dm3), 1000 cubic centimetres (cm3) or 0.001 cubic metre (m3). ...
(Imp. pounds per
bushel
A bushel (abbreviation: bsh. or bu.) is an imperial and US customary unit of volume based upon an earlier measure of dry capacity. The old bushel is equal to 2 kennings (obsolete), 4 pecks, or 8 dry gallons, and was used mostly for agricult ...
). It is thus also referred to as the hectolitre mass.
[Australian Measurement Institute Grain- Density Measuring Instruments]
accessdate=21 October 2017
Purpose
Density
Density (volumetric mass density or specific mass) is the substance's mass per unit of volume. The symbol most often used for density is ''ρ'' (the lower case Greek letter rho), although the Latin letter ''D'' can also be used. Mathematical ...
is a guide to
wheat
Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...
quality and determines the price and the space required to store and transport the crop.
Description
A chondrometer consists of a filling hopper, a measuring container, a straightedge, a weighing instrument. The filling hopper allows the grain to fall into the measuring container in a reproducible pattern as several measurements are taken, and all readings need to be within a strict degree of accuracy.
[ The measuring cylinder has flat top edge to it can levelled using the straightedge (a strickle) to give a set volume. Today, the measuring instrument can be a set of ]digital scale
A scale or balance is a device used to measure weight or mass. These are also known as mass scales, weight scales, mass balances, and weight balances.
The traditional scale consists of two plates or bowls suspended at equal distances from a ...
s with an accuracy greater than 0.1 g, though in the past it was a steelyard balance with the measuring cylinder hooking directly onto the scales.
Calculation
* ''Bulk Density (kg/hL)= Mass of Grain Captured (in kg) /Volume of measuring container (in L) x 100''
:The measuring container will usually be 1L or 0.5L to make the calculations easy.
References
{{reflist
External links
How to Measure Test Weight of Grain
- YouTube
Measuring instruments