A microbalance is an instrument capable of making precise measurements of weight of objects of relatively small mass: of the order of a million parts of a gram. Selected Prefixes Factor Symbol k d μ n P In comparison, a standard analytical balance is 100 times less sensitive; i.e. it is limited in precision to 0.1 milligrams. Microbalances are generally used in a laboratory as stand alone instruments but are also incorporated into other instruments, such as thermogravimetry, sorption/desorption systems, and surface property instruments. It is the precision of the microbalance that distinguishes it from other weighing devices. 103 kilo- deci- 10-1 centi- 10-2 milli- 10-3 10-6 micro- 10-9 nano- Microbalance 10-12 Prefix pico- A quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) is a very sensitive mass deposition sensor based on the piezoelectric properties of the quartz crystal. This technique uses the changes in resonance frequency of the crystal to measure the 0.1nanograms. Nano technology scales weigh atoms with carbon nanotubes.