I need to know what makes up a measurement?

Answer 1

Measurement is the estimation of the magnitude of some attribute of an object, such as its length or weight, relative to a unit of measurement.

Measurement usually involves using a measuring instrument, such as a ruler or scale, which is calibrated to compare the object to some standard, such as a meter or a kilogram.

Answer 2

Use of a standard metric (unit of measure) to provide a quantitative value.

For example, a standard metric for temperature is 1 degree K. So when I take a measurement of or measure temperatures, I can find a quantitative value like T = 175.3 degrees K where the K indicates which temperature standard metric I used.

There are two kinds of measurements: direct and derived. Making direct measurements means using some sort of device, using a standard metric, to actually measure something. For example, when you step on the bathroom scale, you are taking a direct measurement of your weight.

A derived measurement is derived or comes as the result of using more than one direct measurement. For example, if you wanted to know your mass, you'd use m = W/g where W is the direct measure from your bathroom scale and g is the known average acceleration due to gravity on Earth's surface. And you used W and g to derive the mass m.

Key to measuring is in using a standard unit of measurement. There is a group of standard metrics called the SI system of units. The most common one in physics is the so-called kg-m-sec system where the standard mass metric is the kilogram, the standard length metric is the meter, and the standard time metric is the second.