Measure for Measure: The Usefulness of Physics in Legal Metrology

Legal Metrology is a system of laws and regulations that guarantee correct measurements of physical quantities, most prominently in the areas of trade, health, and public safety. It relies on an uninterrupted, traceable chain of measuring protocols, all the way from the lofty heights of the international system of units down to the mundane world of fuel pumps at gas stations, grocery scales in supermarkets and the beer glasses in your favourite pub. This talk presents a few examples in the varied landscape of legal metrology, where scientific competence in general, and a physicist’s perspective in particular, can be quite useful to get the right bearings.