Galvanometer to an Ammeter
Ammeter is an instrument used to measure current flowing in the electrical circuit.
The ammeter must offer low resistance such that it will not change the current
passing through it. So ammeter is connected in series to measure the circuit current.
A galvanometer is converted into an ammeter by connecting a low resistance in
parallel with the galvanometer. This low resistance is called shunt resistance S. The
scale is now calibrated in ampere and the range of ammeter depends on the values
of the shunt resistance.
Let I be the current passing through the circuit as shown in Figure 3.69. When
current I reaches the junction A, it divides into two components. Let I g be the current
passing through the galvanometer of resistance Rg through a path AGE and the
remaining current (I – Ig) passes along the path ACDE through shunt resistance S.
The value of shunt resistance is so adjusted that current I g produces full scale
deflection in the galvanometer. The potential difference across galvanometer is same
as the potential difference across shunt resistance.
Since, the deflection in the galvanometer is proportional to the current passing through
it.
So, the deflection in the galvanometer measures the current I passing through the
circuit (ammeter).
Shunt resistance is connected in parallel to galvanometer. Therefore, resistance of
ammeter can be determined by computing the effective resistance, which is
Since, the shunt resistance is a very low resistance and the ratio S/ Rg is also small.
This means, Rg is also small, i.e., the resistance offered by the ammeter is small. So,
when we connect ammeter in series, the ammeter will not change the resistance
appreciably and also the current in the circuit. For an ideal ammeter, the resistance
must be equal to zero. Hence, the reading in ammeter is always lesser than the
actual current in the circuit. Let Iideal be current measured from ideal ammeter and
Iactual be the actual current measured in the circuit by the ammeter.
Then, the percentage error in measuring a current through an ammeter is
Galvanometer to a voltmeter
A voltmeter is an instrument used to measure potential difference across any two
points in the electrical circuits. It should not draw any current from the circuit
otherwise the value of potential difference to be measured will change.
Voltmeter must have high resistance and when it is connected in parallel, it will not
draw appreciable current so that it will indicate the true potential difference.
A galvanometer is converted into a voltmeter by connecting high resistance Rh in
series with galvanometer as shown in Figure 3.74. The scale is now calibrated in volt
and the range of voltmeter depends on the values of the resistance connected in
series i.e. the value of resistance is so adjusted that only current Ig produces full scale
deflection in the galvanometer.
Let Rg be the resistance of galvanometer and Ig be the current with which the
galvanometer produces full scale deflection. Since the galvanometer is connected in
series with high resistance, the current in the electrical circuit is same as the current
passing through the galvanometer.
Since the galvanometer and high resistance are connected in series, the total
resistance or effective resistance gives the resistance of voltmeter. The voltmeter
resistance is
Rv = Rg +Rh
Therefore,
Note that I g ∝V
The deflection in the galvanometer is proportional to current Ig. But current Ig is
proportional to the potential difference. Hence the deflection in the galvanometer is
proportional to potential difference. Since the resistance of voltmeter is very large, a
voltmeter connected in an electrical circuit will draw least current in the circuit. An
ideal voltmeter is one which has infinite resistance.
Wheatstone Bridge
For measuring accurately any electrical resistance Wheatstone bridge is widely used.
There are two known resistors, one variable resistor and one unknown resistor
connected in bridge form as shown below. By adjusting the variable resistor the
current through the Galvanometer is made zero. When the current through the
galvanometer becomes zero, the ratio of two known resistors is exactly equal to the
ratio of adjusted value of variable resistance and the value of unknown resistance. In
this way the value of unknown electrical resistance can easily be measured by using a
Wheatstone Bridge.
Now, from Wheatstone bridge circuit,
The general arrangement of wheatstone bridge is shown below. It consists of four
arms AB, BC, CD, and DA consisting of known resistance P and Q, variable resistance
S and unknown resistance R. AB and BC are known as ratio arms. A sensitive
galvanometer G is connected across B and D the battery is connected across other
two terminals A and C. Now you adjust the variable resistance S untill the deflection
in galvanometer becomes null. While there is no current through the galvanometer.
The bridge is said to be balanced. That means p.d between B and D becomes zero.
At that condition the current flowing through resistance P and also through resistance
Q is I1 and current flowing through unknown resistance R and also through S is I2.
As we said earlier the points B and D are in the same potential I.e voltage drop from
point A to B is equal to voltage drop from point A to D that is:
I1.P = I2.R….(1)
For the same reason voltage from B to C is equal to voltage from D to C
I1.Q = I2.S….(2)
Now by dividing equation one and two in the above equation, the value of S and P⁄Q
are known, so value of R can easily be determined.
P/Q = R/S or R = (P/Q).S
Potentiometer
A potentiometer is a manually adjustable variable resistor with 3 terminals. Two of the
terminals are connected to the opposite ends of a resistive element, and the third
terminal connects to a sliding contact, called a wiper, moving over the resistive
element. The potentiometer essentially functions as a variable resistance divider. The
resistive element can be seen as two resistors in series (the total potentiometer
resistance), where the wiper position determines the resistance ratio of the first
resistor to the second resistor. If a reference voltage is applied across the end
terminals, the position of the wiper determines the output voltage of the
potentiometer.
There are two main types of potentiometers:
1. Rotary Potentiometers
The rotary type potentiometers are used mainly for obtaining adjustable supply
voltage to a part of electronic circuits and electrical circuits. The volume controller of a
radio transistor is a popular example of a rotary potentiometer where the rotary knob
of the potentiometer controls the supply to the amplifier.
This type of potentiometer has two terminal contacts between which a uniform
resistance is placed in a semi-circular pattern. The device also has a middle terminal
which is connected to the resistance through a sliding contact attached with a rotary
knob. By rotating the knob one can move the sliding contact on the semi-circular
resistance. The voltage is taken between a resistance end contact and the sliding
contact. The potentiometer is also named as the POT in short. POT is also used in
substation battery chargers to adjust the charging voltage of a battery. There are
many more uses of rotary type potentiometer where smooth voltage control is
required.
2. Linear Potentiometers
The linear potentiometer is basically the same but the only difference is that here
instead of rotary movement the sliding contact gets moved on the resistor linearly.
Here two ends of a straight resistor are connected across the source voltage. A
sliding contact can be slide on the resistor through a track attached along with the
resistor. The terminal connected to the sliding is connected to one end of the output
circuit and one of the terminals of the resistor is connected to the other end of the
output circuit.
This type of potentiometer is mainly used to measure the voltage across a branch of
a circuit, for measuring the internal resistance of a battery cell, for comparing a
battery cell with a standard cell and in our daily life, it is commonly used in the
equalizer of music and sound mixing systems.