Which statement about flowmeters is true?

• A. They may be a flow regulator on a manifold system or a ball float meter
• B. They must be digital
• C. They measure temperature
• D. They regulate gas pressure

Answer: (A)

Flowmeters are devices that control and indicate the rate of shielding gas flowing to the weld area. They can be a flow regulator built into a manifold system or a ball float meter, which uses a floating ball in a tapered tube to show the flow rate. This is why the statement is true: it captures the common forms flowmeters take and their primary function of setting and reading gas flow for GTAW, rather than measuring temperature or regulating pressure.

The other ideas aren’t inherent to flowmeters. They don’t have to be digital; many are simple mechanical indicators. They don’t measure temperature, which is a separate parameter in welding. And controlling gas pressure is done by a regulator upstream, not by the flowmeter itself, whose job is to manage flow rate.