Chapter 2

Theory of Measurement
Errors in measurement
No measurement can be made with perfect accuracy
true value is not necessarily equal to the measured value due to some errors.

It is important to know what accuracy is and how different errors enter to the
measurement systems.

Error = True Value (T.V) – Measured Value (M.V)

True Value (T.V) – Measured Value (M.V)

% Error = X 100%
True Value (T.V)

Errors may arise from different sources and are usually classified as

1) Gross Error 2) Systematic Error 3) Random Error

 Error

Gross Systematic Random

Instrumental Observational Environmental

Error
1) Gross Error

 Covers human mistakes in reading instruments, and recording and

calculating measurement results
All errors are committed by the users
 Cases are
a) oversight while reading scale. e.g. reading temperature as 200C while the
actual value is 250C
b) Transposing the reading. e.g. 21.8 instead of 28.1
Gross error may be of any magnitude and therefore there mathematical analysis is
complex.

Corrective measures

 Great care should be taken in reading and recording the data

 Multiple readings should be taken for the quantity under measurement by
different observer.

2) Systematic Error

a) Instrumental Error
 Due to inherent shortcomings of the instrument
 Misuse of the instrument
 Due to loading effect of the instrument
Inherent shortcomings instruments

 Inherent because of their mechanical structure.

 They may be due to construction, calibration or operation of the devices

• Corrective Measures
 Always use standard instruments
 Re-calibrate the scale
 Correction factor should be applied after determining the instrumental error
Misuse of instruments
Instruments are better than the people who use them

 Errors caused in the measurement is generally because of operator rather than that of
instrument
 A good instrument used in unintelligent way, may result in error
 Some ill practices of the operators may lead to permanent damage or failure of the
instruments.
Loading Effect

 One of the most common error committed by the beginners.

 e.g. a well calibrated voltmeter may give a false reading when connected
across high resistance circuit.

Example of loading effect

A voltmeter having a sensitivity 1000Ω/V reads 100V on its 150V scale, when
connected across an unknown resistor in series with a milliammeter. The Rt
milliammeter reads 5 mA.
E
Total circuit resistance = 100/5mA = 20 kΩ (constant)
Resistance of voltmeter (Rv) = 1000 X 150 =150 kΩ
Neglecting the resistance of milliammeter, unknown resistance (Rt) = 20 kΩ

Rt is apparent resistance of the unknown resistor without considering the

loading effect
Now considering loading effect,
Voltmeter is connected in parallel with the unknown resistance Rx. Therefore,
the equivalent resistance of the parallel combination is the apparent resistance.
Rv
RxRv
Rt =
Solving for Rx ,we get Rx+Rv
Rx
Rx = 23.07 kΩ (actual value)
And %Error = 13.33%
A voltmeter having a sensitivity 1000Ω/V reads 40V on its 150V scale, when
connected across an unknown resistor in series with a milliammeter. The
milliammeter reads 800 mA.

Rt = 50 Ω, Rv = 150 kΩ, Rx = 50.017 Ω and %Error = 0.034%

Loading effect error can be eliminated by using the meter intelligently, i.e. while
measuring low resistance value, volt meter of high resistance value should be used.
2) Systematic Error

b) Environmental Error
 Errors due to the impact of surrounding.
 These may be effect of temperature, pressure, humidity etc. or
errors due to external magnetic and electric field (Armature effect)
Corrective measures
 Keeping the conditions as nearly constant as possible (constant temperature)
 Using equipment which are immune to these effect (variations in resistance
with temperature can be minimized by using material having very low
resistance temperature coefficient)
 Use of proper shielding to avoid the effect of external field.

Instrumental Error and Systematic Error may follow a certain pattern

2) Systematic Error

c) Observational Error
 Errors mainly caused by Parallax effect
the pointer of a voltmeter rests slightly above the surface of the scale.
The error occurs unless the line of vision of the observer is exactly above the pointer.

Corrective measures
 To minimize the parallax error, highly accurate meters are provided with mirrored
scale
3) Random (Residual) Error

 Occurs even after minimization of other errors

 Caused mainly due to the random variation of physical quantities
 They do not follow a consistent pattern, so are difficult to control

 Statistical analysis plays a vital role in understanding random errors. They are
modeled by using statistical distribution like normal (Gaussian) distribution.

Corrective Measure

• Use statistical analysis

 Statistical Analysis
The outcome of a certain measurement method may be predicted on the basis of
sample data without having detailed information on all data.

Terms used in statistical analysis

1) Arithmetic Mean
𝑛
𝑥𝑖
𝑥=
𝑛
𝑖=0
Also called the most probable value of a measured variable

2) Deviation from the Mean (d)

difference between an individual datapoint of a dataset and the mean of that dataset
How much an observation differs from the central tendency
More deviation  datapoints scatters in large extent
More deviation  less accuracy
ⅆ𝑛 = 𝑥𝑛 − 𝑥
Its algebraic sum is zero.

3) Average Deviation (D)

 Mean Absolute Deviation (MAD)

 It is the indication of the precision of the measuring instrument
 Highly precise instruments yield a low D

ⅆ1 + ⅆ2 + ⋯ ⋅ 1 + ⅆ𝑛 𝑑
𝐷= =
𝑛 𝑛
4) Standard Deviation (S.D, σ)

 Also called Root-Mean-Square-Deviation, i.e. square root of the sum of all individual
deviation squared, divided by [Link] readings

𝑑12 + 𝑑2+⋯⋅
2
+ 𝑑𝑛2
𝜎= For n>20
𝑛

𝑑12 + 𝑑2+⋯⋅
2
+ 𝑑𝑛2
𝜎= For n<=20
𝑛−1

 Standard deviation indicates how spread out the data is

 A small SD means the data points are close to the mean (low variability), while a large SD
means the data points are spread out over a wider range (high variability)
S.D. also helps to describe the distribution of the data

5) Variance(V)

 Mean square deviation

Gaussian Probability Curve and Probable Error
Shows how the value of measured quantities are distributed when the errors are random

The normal or Gaussian law of errors is the basis for the major part of study of random
error

Most of the random natural phenomenon follows this bell-shaped curve

Consider the following circuit

Let the true value of the output voltage be 100V

T.V (nominal value) = 100V Voltage readings [Link] occurrence
99.7 2
98.8 6
Voltage readings by the 99.9 12
instrument 100 19
100.1 10
100.2 2
100.3 1
Table 1
Table 1 shows the voltage readings taken at small interval of time and to nearest 0.1V
voltage value rounded to closest 0.1Volts
e.g. 12.07 rounded to 12.1

Largest [Link] readings occurs at the central value of 100V

Now, if the [Link] observation is increased and resolution is made 0.05V, the contour of the
histogram would finally become a smooth curve, as indicated by the dashed line

e.g. 200 readings at 0.05V resolution

This bell-shaped curve is known as Gaussian probability curve

1 𝑥−𝑥 2
𝑦=𝑓 𝑥 = exp −
𝜎 2𝜋 2𝜎 2

The sharper and narrower the curve, the more exactly the observer may state that the most
probable value of the reading is the central or mean value

Most probable value  value of the measured quantity that occurs with highest frequency or
likelihood.
 Probable Error
Statistical measure used to describe the precision of the measurement system

This indicates the range within which 50% of the measured values are
expected to lie around the mean.

Deviation Fraction of total area included

± 1𝜎 0.6828
± 2𝜎 0.9546
± 3𝜎 0.9972

The area under Gaussian curve between the limits ±∞ represents the entire [Link] observation

± 0.6745𝜎 0.500
Half of the measurement data are included between the deviation limits of ± 0.6745𝜎

Probable Error is defined as r = ± 0.6745𝜎

Half of the observed values lie within the limit ±r

For any additional measurement, the chances are 50-50 percent that the value will lie
between ±r

So, the probability error is no greater than ±r

Example to make it super clear
Suppose you measure voltage many times:
Mean voltage = 230 V
Standard deviation σ = 2 V
Then:
μ – σ = 228 V
μ + σ = 232 V
This means:
About 68.28% of your voltage readings will lie between:
Static Characteristics of Measurement System

They tell you how accurately and reliably an instrument measures a value that does not
change with time

How good is the instrument when the quantity being measured is constant?”

1) Accuracy
 Specifies the difference between the measured and true values.
closeness with which an instrument reading approaches the true value
 Conformity to the truth
T.V – M.V
 The concept of accuracy involves full-scale reading
Example

Accuracy = 1%
Full-scale range = 100V
T.V = 80V
Then,
measured value = (80 ± 1% of 100) V
= 81V or 79V

𝑇.𝑉 −𝑀.𝑉
% Error = x 100% = 1.25%
𝑇.𝑉

For T.V of 12V

M.V = 13V or 11V
% Error = 8.33%
A voltmeter whose accuracy is 2% of the full scale reading is used on its 0-50V scale. It is
used to measure a voltage of 15V and 42V. Calculate the percentage error of both
readings. Comment on your answer. [2072 Magh]

Answer: (a) M.V. = 16V or 14V, % Error = 6.666%

(b) M.V. = 43V or 41V, % Error = 2.38%

In second case, the error is less because the range of voltmeter is very close to the
true value. So, in order to reduce the error, the range of the voltmeter should be
close to the true value of the quantity being measured.
 2) Precision
 Signifies the repeatability of the set of readings each made independently with the same
instrument
 Used to describe consistency or reproducibility of results
 High precision means a tight cluster of repeated results

Precision does not guarantee accuracy although accuracy requires

precision
3) Resolution
 For every system, the output does not change until the input exceeds a certain value.
this increment is called the resolution
 Minimum input which gives a detectable output
 For analog systems, resolution = smallest division or marking on the instrument’s scale
 For digital systems, resolution = LSB
4) Sensitivity
 Ratio of magnitude of output signal to input signal. e.g millimeter per micro-ampere
𝑆𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑜/𝑝 Δ𝑞0
S= =
𝑆𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑖/𝑝 Δ𝑞i

The reciprocal of sensitivity is called deflection factor or inverse sensitivity.

 a b

The curve shown above is called calibration curve.

 The calibration curve (a) is linear and in this case the sensitivity is the
slope of the calibration curve
Sensitivity is constant over the entire range of the instrument
 The sensitivity of the curve (b) is not constant and varies with the input.

 High sensitivity is preferred.

 Sensitivity and Range Trade-off

Range of an instrument should not greatly exceed the value being measured.
When the range of an instrument is too large, it compromises its ability to detect
smaller changes (i.e., reduces sensitivity).
when the range is too wide, small variations in the measurement may be "lost"
or unobservable
5) Linearity
 Constant sensitivity throughout the measurement
Output is linearly proportional to the input
 It is desirable for most of the instruments.
Why?
• Conversion from scale reading to the corresponding measured value of input quantity is most
convenient if one merely has to multiply by a fixed constant rather than consult a non-linear
calibration equation.
• linear behavior also simplifies the design and analysis of the whole system
Non-linearity does not mean inaccuracy
Dynamic Characteristics of Measurement System

 When input is applied, the system cannot take its final steady
state position immediately
System goes through transient state before settling to its
final steady state value
Transient response  the way system settles down to its final
steady state conditions.

When input is applied, the system cannot take its final steady state position immediately
Why?

Because of the presence of energy storing elements like inductor, capacitor, mass, fluid
capacitances in the system.
Dynamic Characteristics are

1) Speed of response
 Rapidity with which an instrument responds to changes in the measured quantity

2) Response time
 Time required by the system or instrument to settle to its final steady state position,
after the application of the input.

3) Measuring lag
 Delay in the response of an instrument to a change in the measured quantity
 Measurement of Voltage and Current
Voltage  Voltmeter (Parallel, should have high resistance)
Current  Ammeter (Series, should have low resistance)
Types of Instruments

1) Moving Iron (MI) instruments

Principle  Operate based on the magnetic effect of electric current

When current flows through a coil, it creates a magnetic field that interacts
with a piece of soft iron, causing it to move
Widely used in laboratories and switchboards at commercial frequencies because these are
cheaper in cost, robust in construction, and can be manufactured with required accuracy.

There are two types of MI

I. Attraction type
II. Repulsion type
I. Attraction type
 Operates on the principle of attraction of a single piece of soft iron into a magnetic field.
II. Repulsion type
 Operates on the principle of repulsion of two adjacent iron pieces magnetized by the same
magnetic field.
Two pieces of iron are magnetized in the same direction, causing them to repel each
other.
 More sensitive as there are two iron elements positioned close together inside the field
coil.

when current flows through the coil, the two vanes i.e., fixed vane and movable vane
are magnetized and same polarities are induced in it which results in a force of
repulsion between them.

The fixed vane is attached to the coil whereas the movable vane is mounted on the
spindle of the instrument

The spindle carries the pointer which moves on a graduated scale

Initially, the current does not pass through the coil. Hence, the two vanes will touch each other
and the pointer does not deflect (i.e., it will be at zero position

Whenever current flows through the coil, a magnetic field is set up in it and two vanes are
magnetized with the same polarities

Due to this, a repulsive force exists between two vanes and the movable vane tries to move
away from the fixed vane
Types of Instruments

2) Moving Coil (MC) instruments

Principle  Operate based on the interaction between the magnetic field of a current-
carrying coil and a permanent magnet. This interaction produces torque, moving
the pointer.
Mostly used for DC signals • The action of these instruments is based on principle of motor
• It consists of permanent magnet with soft iron
• A cylindrical iron core is mounted between two poles of magnet
giving very narrow air gap to rectangular coil
• The purpose of using core is to make the field uniform and reduce
reluctance of magnetic circuits. A low reluctance helps to retain the
permanence of the magnet.
• When a current carrying coil is placed in the magnetic field produced
by permanent. magnet, the coil experiences a force and moves. As the
coil is moving and the magnet permanent, the instrument is called
permanent magnet moving coil instrument.
Measurement of R, L, & C

1) Measurement of Resistance

Measured with the help of Wheatstone bridge

in Wheatstone bridge, three arms have the known values of parameter and one arm
has unknown value
The value of the unknown arm is found in terms of known values of the other three
parameters.

For the measurement of resistance, DC bridge is used, whereas inductance and capacitance
can be measured with the help of AC bridge.
 The bridge has four resistive arms, together with a source of
emf and a detector D

The bridge is said to be balanced when the potential

difference across the detector is 0V so that there is no current
through the detector

When the bridge is balanced, we have From equation (1), (2), (3), we have
𝑉 𝑉
VAB = VAF R1 = R3
𝑅1 +𝑅2 𝑅3 +𝑅4
I1R1 = I3R3 ……..(1)
As no current flows through the detector, R1R3 + R1R4 = R1R3 + R2R3
𝑉
I1 = I2 = …..(2) and I3 = I4 = or, R1R4 = R2R3 ………(4)
𝑅1 +𝑅2
𝑉
….(3)
𝑅3 +𝑅4
Equation 4 gives the necessary condition for Wheatstone bridge to be balanced i.e., when the
bridge is balanced, the product of the resistance of any two opposite arms must be equal to
that of other two.

Suppose an unknown resistance Rx is placed in arm-4 i.e., R4 = Rx, then from equation (4),

𝑅2
𝑅𝑥 = 𝑅 ……(5)
𝑅1 3
The arm containing resistor R3 is called the standard arm of the bridge, and the arms
containing resistors R2 and R1 are called the ratio arms.

Equation 5 is used for the measurement if the unknown resistance Rx. First, an unknown
resistance Rx is placed in arm-4. And then, the value of ratio arm resistors are set.

Example:
R1 = 100Ω, R2 = 50Ω, So, R2/ R1 = 1/2
Now, we go on changing the value of R3 until the detector current becomes zero.
Suppose R3 = 1000Ω, then Rx = 500Ω
Balanced Condition for AC Bridge
When the bridge is balanced,
VAB = VAF
𝐼𝐼 𝑧1 ∡𝜃1 = 𝐼3 𝑧3 ∡𝜃3 … … … . 1
As no current flows through the detector,

𝑉
I1 = I 2 = ………….(2)
𝑧1 ∡𝜃1 + 𝑧1 ∡𝜃1
𝑉
I3 = I 4 = ………….(3)
𝑧3 ∡𝜃3 + 𝑧4 ∡𝜃4

From equation 1, 2, and 3, we get

𝑉 𝑉
𝑧1 ∡𝜃1 = 𝑧3 ∡𝜃3
𝑧1 ∡𝜃1 + 𝑧1 ∡𝜃1 𝑧3 ∡𝜃3 + 𝑧4 ∡𝜃4

𝑧1 𝑧3 ∡(𝜃1 + 𝜃3 ) + 𝑧1 𝑧4 ∡(𝜃1 + 𝜃4 ) = 𝑧1 𝑧3 ∡(𝜃1 +

𝜃3 ) + 𝑧2 𝑧3 ∡(𝜃2 + 𝜃3 )
Therefore,
𝑧1 𝑧4 ∡(𝜃1 + 𝜃4 ) = 𝑧2 𝑧3 ∡(𝜃2 + 𝜃3 ) ……(4)

Equation 4 is the balanced condition for AC bridge.

Thus, the conditions are:

i) The product of magnitude of any two opposite arms impedance must be equal to that
of other two i.e., 𝑧1 𝑧4 = 𝑧2 𝑧3
ii) The sum of angle of any two opposite arms impedance must be equal to that of other
two i.e., (𝜃1 + 𝜃4 ) = (𝜃2 + 𝜃3 )
2) Measurement of Inductance

Two methods are used and their selection depends upon the quality factor (Q)

i) Maxwell Bridge (1 < Q < 10)

ii) Hay’s Bridge (Q > 10)

𝑋L 𝑤𝑙
Q-factor = =
𝑅 𝑅

Q-factor  It characterizes the performance of a resonant system in terms of

its losses and resonator bandwidth. It is a measure of how
sharp or selective the resonance is in such system

For high Q-factor coil, XL >> R i.e., R  0. Thus, for high Q-factor coil, θ ≈ 900
(lossless coil)
Physical Meaning of Q factor:
1)Sharpness of Resonance
Q-factor also tells how sharp or selective a resonant circuit is.
✔ High Q → Very sharp peak (selects a narrow range of frequency)
✔ Low Q → Broad peak (poor selection, passes many frequencies)

Physical Meaning 2: Energy Stored vs Energy Lost

Q=2π×Energy Stored /Energy lost per cycle

✔ High Q → Stores a lot of energy but loses very little each cycle
✔ Low Q → Loses energy quickly

Physical Meaning 3:
How long oscillations continue
If oscillations die out slowly, the system has high Q.
If oscillations die out quickly, the system has low Q.
➡️ High Q means very low energy loss per cycle.
Real-Life Examples to understand Q factor
✔ 1. Guitar string
When plucked, it vibrates for long → high Q (low damping).
✔ 2. Car shock absorbers
Stops vibration quickly → low Q (high damping).
i) Maxwell’s Bridge (1 < Q < 10)

Measures an unknown inductance in terms of a

known capacitance.

One of the ratio arm has a resistance and a

capacitance in parallel

Z2 = R2
Zx = Rx + j XL = Rx + jꞷLx
Z3 = R3

1
Y1 = + jꞷC1
𝑅1
When the bridge is balanced,
Z1 Zx = Z2 Z3
Z2 Z3
Zx = = Z2 Z3 Y1
Z1
1
Rx + jꞷLx = R2R3 [ + jꞷC1 ]
𝑅1
𝑅2
Rx + jꞷLx = R3 + jꞷ R2R3 C1
𝑅1
Equating the real and imaginary parts, we get
𝑅2
Rx = R3 ……..(1)
𝑅1
ꞷLx = ꞷ R2R3 C1
Lx = R2R3 C1 ……..(2)
Maxwell’s bridge is not used for measurement of inductance of the coil having
high Q-factor
Why?
From eqn (2),
Lx = R2R3 C1
and Q-factor is given by,
𝑋L R2R3 C1ꞷ
Q-factor = = ….(3)
Rx Rx
From eqn (1),
𝑅2
Rx = R3 ....(4)
𝑅1
From eqn (3) and (4)
RR Cꞷ
Q-factor = 2 3 1 𝑅1 = C1ꞷ 𝑅1 ….(5)
R2R3
From eqn (5), it can be seen that higher value of Q-factor requires higher value of 𝑅1 , 105Ω
to 106Ω, whose cost is very high
Another reason

From the second balance condition, we have,

The sum of angle of any two opposite arms impedance must be equal to that of other two i.e.,
(𝜃1 + 𝜃x ) = (𝜃2 + 𝜃3 )

We know, (𝜃2 + 𝜃3 ) = 0, so, (𝜃1 + 𝜃x ) must also be equal to 0.

But, for high Q-factor, 𝜃x ≈ 900, which means 𝜃1 must be equal to – 900
For parallel connection,
𝜃1 = arctan(- ꞷC1R1)
to make the value of 𝜃1 = – 900 we must use R of very high value

Low value of Q-factor is also no desirable in maxwell bridge since it cause

difficulty in achieving balanced condition.
Why Maxwell bridge becomes unstable at high Q?
Because:
🔸 High Q → θₓ ≈ +90°
🔸 To satisfy angle condition → RC arm must give −90°
🔸 Parallel RC cannot reach −90° unless R is extremely large
🔸 Large R means:
- very sensitive
- unstable balancing
- noise affected
- bridge becomes inaccurate
ii) Hay’s Bridge (Q > 10)
Modification of Maxwell’s bridge

Here, resistance R1 is in series with the standard capacitor C1

unlike Maxwell’s bridge

As in Maxwell’s bridge, (𝜃1 + 𝜃x ) = (𝜃2 + 𝜃3 )

and (𝜃2 + 𝜃3 ) = 0.
Similarly, (𝜃1 + 𝜃x ) must be 0, which means

𝜃1 = – 900

Since, the capacitor and the resistor is connected in series, in

this case value of R1 should be smaller.

Hence, Hay’s Bridge is economical for high Q-factor

Z2 = R2
Zx = Rx + j XL = Rx + jꞷLx
Z3 = R3
𝑗
Z1 = R1 - jXC1 = R1 -
ꞷC1

When the bridge is balanced,

Z1 Zx = Z2 Z3
𝑗
(R1 -
ꞷC
)(Rx + jꞷLx ) = R2R3
1

Lx R
(R1Rx + ) + j( R1ꞷLx - x ) = R2R3
C1 ꞷC1

Equating the real and imaginary parts, we get

Lx
R1Rx + = R R ………(1)
C1 2 3
Rx
R1ꞷLx - = 0 ……….(2)
ꞷC1
From equation (2)
Rx = ꞷ2R1C1Lx …….(3)

From equation (1) and (3),

Lx
ꞷ R1 C1Lx + = R2R3
2 2
C1
1
Lx[ꞷ2R1 2 C1 + ] = R2R3
C1
1 +ꞷ2R1 2 C12
Lx[ ] = R2R3
C1
R2R3 C1
Lx = ……….(4)
1 +ꞷ2R1 2 C12

From equations (4) and (3),

R2R3 C1 ꞷ2C12R1R2R3
Rx = ꞷ R1C1 (
2 )= ……….(5)
1 +ꞷ2R1 2 C12 1 +ꞷ2R1 2 C12
In this way we can find the unknown value of inductance.
The impedance diagram of arm 1 and arm x is shown below

For balanced condition,

𝜃x = 𝜃1
tan(𝜃x ) = tan(𝜃1 )
1
Q= ……………(6)
ꞷR1C1
From equations (4) and (6)
R2R3 C1
Lx = 1 2 …………(7)
1 +( )
Q
1
Since, Q>10, ( ) 2 is negligible.
Q
Hence, Lx = R2R3 C1
3) Measurement of Capacitance
Schering’s bridge
Numericals

1) Ten measurements of the resistance of a resistor gave 101.2 Ω,

101.7 Ω,101.3 Ω,101.0 Ω,101.5 Ω,101.3 Ω, 101.2 Ω, 101.4 Ω,101.3 Ω, and 101.1 Ω.
Assume that only random errors are present. Calculate:
(a) the arithmetic mean,
(b) the standard deviation of the readings,
(c) the probable error.
Ans: 101.3 Ω, 0.2 Ω, 0.1349 Ω

2)

Ans: 0.492 mm/ Ω, 2.33 mm/ Ω

3)

Ans: 0.4V