FALL 2023

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THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK
Rob LaPointe EXPEDITE TESTING SERVICE
Rob LaPointe is a noted authority in materials and fastener technology. With extensive experience in the
management and science of materials testing laboratories combined with master’s degrees in physics and
education, he excels at bringing solutions to the client. Working specifically in the fastener testing industry,
he has developed expertise in mechanical, nondestructive, metallurgical and chemical testing. With a
background of 20 years in physics education, Rob is effective at communicating complex ideas in a simple
and understandable manner, communicating well with clients enabling them to make informed decisions
about their products and business. Rob is President/CEO of Expedite Testing Service, 11645 Riverside Drive,
Suite 127, Lakeside, CA 92040. Tel: 619-736-7872, Cell: 909-254-1278 or visit www.expeditetest.com.
FASTENER SCIENCE: PRECISION, ACCURACY AND
SIGNIFICANCE IN MEASUREMENT
All measurements contain errors. It may seem
like this statement contains errors, but there has never
been a measurement that didn’t include error inherent in
the measuring tool, as well as possible error in the use
of the tool. Errors are part of every measurement and
must be recognized, qualified, and communicated if the
measurement is to be valid and useful.
If you’re like me, you may have had the idea that
there are properties of nature that are pure, absolute,
and completely unassailable. Things like the speed of
light in a vacuum, Newton’s Universal Law of Gravitation,
and the effectiveness of a speed bump being inversely
proportional to the rate you travel over it. Joking aside,
there are certain values in our current understanding
of nature that seem to be fixed, and in that sense,
appear to be absolute. These are called constants and
FIGURE 2 ALBERT EINSTIEN
DEVELOPED THE THEORIES
OF SPECIAL AND GENERAL
RELATIVITY
TECHNICAL ARTICLE
most often are derived
from theory and then
measured to support
or reject the theory. As
long as the evidence that
nature provides supports
our theories, we consider
them to be valid. If a
particular property of
nature is predicted by
theory and that theory
produces a value for the
property, this provides
us an opportunity to test
the theory. When the
property is measured,
the measured value
is compared to the
theoretical value to
support, modify or reject
the theory.
In the case of the
speed of light in a vacuum,
all measurements of this
theoretical value have
confirmed the theory.
Newton’s Universal Law
of Gravitation hasn’t
fared so well. Although Newton’s laws work very well
in low-gravity situations, like the surface of Earth and
space travel, they don’t work well at all in high-gravity
environments such as near neutron stars and black
holes.
FIGURE 1 DIAGRAM OF OLE
ROMER’S OBSERVATIONS OF
JUPITER’S ECLIPSE OF THE
MOON IO IN OPPOSITION AND
CONJUCTION
For these environments, we must rely on the
overarching theory of General Relativity, which provides
results comparable to measurements in both low-gravity
and high-gravity environments. As for the relationship
of the effectiveness of a speed bump verses the rate
at which you travel over it, I’ll leave the validity of this
theory to your own experiments and conclusions.
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