Introduction

This Watt Balance was designed by a team at NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) based on the Watt Balance they built to determine the kilogram using unchanging quantum units as opposed to a physical artifact. They wrote a detailed paper on its construction and operation (which can also be downloaded here) [1]. They also made a hilarious and informative video that you can find on YouTube pretty easily. Please consider the published paper and YouTube video as the official manual for this experiment. Read the paper thoroughly, especially Section 5, which details the measurement procedure. The remainder of this document will provide some insights that aren’t so obvious in the NIST paper, and provide some tips on how to get started, and get a decent measurement.

    You can also download an additional document which provides additional LabView instruction here.