proof mass

{{Short description|SAMPLE MASS}}

A proof mass or test mass is a known quantity of mass used in a measuring instrument as a reference for the measurement of an unknown quantity.{{Cite web|url=http://www.csa.com/discoveryguides/mems/gloss_f.php|title=Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS) Glossary|last=Vittorio|first=Salvatore A.|date=October 2001|website=CSA Illumina|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140106200531/http://www.csa.com/discoveryguides/mems/gloss_f.php|archive-date=January 6, 2014|access-date=6 January 2014}}

A mass used to calibrate a weighing scale is sometimes called a calibration mass or calibration weight.

A proof mass that deforms a spring in an accelerometer is sometimes called the seismic mass.{{Cite book|last=Johnson|first=Curtis D.|url=https://archive.org/details/processcontrolin00john|title=Process Control Instrumentation Technology|date=1997|publisher=Prentice Hall|isbn=0-13-441305-9|chapter=Accelerometer Principles|access-date=6 January 2014|chapter-url=http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/ph/p/id/12#toc0|url-access=registration|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140107014715/http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/ph/p/id/12|archive-date=January 7, 2014|url-status=dead}} In a convective accelerometer, a fluid proof mass may be employed.{{Cite journal|last1=Mukherjee|first1=Rahul|last2=Basu|first2=Joydeep|last3=Mandal|first3=Pradip|last4=Guha|first4=Prasanta Kumar|year=2017|title=A review of micromachined thermal accelerometers|journal=Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering|volume=27|issue=12|pages=123002|arxiv=1801.07297|bibcode=2017JMiMi..27l3002M|doi=10.1088/1361-6439/aa964d|s2cid=116232359}}