Why does the number on the scale fluctuate so much?

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Like when you see the numbers bounce around through several graduations on the digital scale till it settles down.

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Anonymous 0 Comments

So on a digital scale, the circuit it uses is a pressure sensor. This is constructed in such a way that the current/voltage across a circuit changes based on how much pressure is being placed on part of the circuit.

That’s not really constant. Your body’s constantly making tiny adjustments to your posture to maintain balance. Our brain ignores these because they aren’t important to us. But the pressure sensor feels it.

Still, unless you’re doing something like lifting and lowering one foot the amount of pressure on the sensor stays within a relatively small range. So the scale is actually sampling lots of readings for a few seconds then displaying an average. When it takes longer, the fluctuations are bigger, so the scale is waiting until they seem to stay inside of a smaller range.

You can see it real-time on “analog” scales, the ones with a speedometer-like display. When you step on it the needle fluctuates a little before settling, and if you bend your knees then stand up you’ll see it move around a little. Once you sit still it can settle down but as long as you’re moving it’ll fluctuate. And if you could see real zoomed-in video if it, you’d note it never actually “sits still”, it just gets so stable we don’t notice it’s moving.

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