A vernier caliper produces measurement values in centimeters (cm), with precision to two decimal places. Consider the measurement value of 2.13 cm as an example. To comprehend the measurement reading, we must first grasp the following:
The primary scale contributes the major number in the reading as well as one decimal place ( 2 and 0.1 in the case of the given example.)
The vernier scale adds a second decimal place to the readout (0.03 in the case of the given example. Let's look at an example to see how to read the measurement provided by the vernier scale.
Therefore,
The main scale reading in the above example is 10 cm since it is to the immediate left of the vernier scale's zero.
In the above example, the vernier scale reading is 0.02 cm because the scale line of the main scale and 2nd scale line of the vernier scale is aligned at this position.
Adding the main scale reading and the vernier scale reading results in the final measurement of 10 cm + 0.02 cm = 10.02 cm.