Module V:

200

Prof. T R Choudhury, NIT Rourkela

Electronic Instruments
Main Elements of an Electronic Instrument: Most of the
electronic instruments have the following main three elements: (i)
transducer (ii) signal modifier and (iii) indicating device.
Transducer. It is the first sensing element and is required only when
measuring a nonelectrical quantity, say, temperature or pressure. Its
function is to convert the non-electrical physical quantity into an
electrical signal. Of course, a transducer is not required if the
quantity being measured is already in the electrical form.
.Signal Modifier. It is the second element and its function is to make the incoming signal suitable for application
to the indicating device. For example, the signal may need amplification before it can be properly displayed.
Other types of signal modifiers are: voltage dividers for reducing the amount of signal applied to the indicating
device or wave shaping circuits such as filters, rectifiers or chopper etc.
Indicating Device. For general purpose instruments like voltmeters, ammeters or ohm meters, the indicating
device is usually a deflection type meter. In digital readout instruments; the indicating device is of digital design

Prof. T R Choudhury, NIT Rourkela 201

Electronic Instruments Contd..
Electronic Versus Electrical Instruments:
Although electronic instruments are usually more expensive than their electrical instruments but they offer
following advantages for measurements purposes:
 Electronics Instruments can amplify the input signal, they have very high sensitivity. They are capable of
measuring extremely small input (low amplitude) signals.
 Due to the high sensitivity, their input impedance is increased which means less loading effect when making
measurements,
 These instruments have greater speed i.e. faster response to the input signal and flexibility,

 It can be interfaced very easily with a computer system. This advantage allows the signal to be processed
using digital signal processing techniques.

Prof. T R Choudhury, NIT Rourkela 202

Electronic Voltmeter
 Electronic Voltmeter has become a very important tool for instrument and control engineers. An electronic
voltmeter uses rectifiers, amplifiers and other circuits to generate a current proportional to the voltage being
measured. In an electronic voltmeter, a measured alternating voltage is rectified using a diode rectifier or
decoder and a rectified direct current is produced which is the measure of the original alternating voltage.
Fig. shows the block diagram of
modern electronic voltmeter. As
seen from the diagram it
consists of input switching and
ranging circuit, amplification
circuit and analog-to-digital
conversion (rectification) circuit
and a voltmeter. The voltmeter would be a simple permanent moving coil voltmeter or an electronic
voltmeter.
A VOM (volt-ohm meter)can be used to measure voltages but it lacks both sensitivity and high input resistances.
Moreover, its input resistance is different for each range. The electronic voltmeter (EVM), on the other hand, has
input resistance ranging from 10 MΩ to 100 MΩ, thus producing less loading of the circuit under test than the VOM.
Another advantage of EVM is that its input resistance remains constant over all ranges.
Prof. T R Choudhury, NIT Rourkela 203
Electronic Voltmeter Contd..
Advantages of Electronics Voltmeters:
 Low level signal detection

 Low power consumption

 High frequency range

 Low input capacitance

 No loading errors

Prof. T R Choudhury, NIT Rourkela 204

Digital Instruments

 Advantages  Disadvantages
 Detection of Low Level Signals  Effects on noise in more predominant on digital
instruments
 High Input Impedance
 Analog instruments have higher overload
 Low Power Consumption capacity than digital instruments.
 High Frequency Range  Digital instruments can sometimes loose its
 Better Resolution reliability

 Storage Facility  Digital instruments and their internal electronic

components are very much sensitive to external
 Accuracy atmospheric conditions.

Prof. T R Choudhury, NIT Rourkela 205

Analog vs Digital Multimeter

Prof. T R Choudhury, NIT Rourkela 206

Digital Voltmeters
 A digital voltmeter (DVM) displays the value of a.c. or d.c. voltage being measured directly as discrete
numerals in the decimal number system. Numerical readout of DVMs is advantageous since it eliminates
observational errors committed by operators. The errors on account of parallax and approximations are
entirely eliminated. The use of digital voltmeters increases the speed with which readings can be taken.
Also the output of digital voltmeters can be fed to memory devices for storage and future computations.
 A digital voltmeter is a versatile and accurate voltmeter which has many laboratory applications. On account
of developments in the integrated circuit (IC) technology, it has been possible to reduce the size, power
requirements and cost of digital voltmeters. In fact, for the same accuracy, a digital voltmeter now is less
costly than its analog counterpart. The decrease in size of DVMs on account of use of ICs, the portability of
the instruments has increased.
Types of DVM:
 Ramp type DVM, • Potentiometric type DVM,
• Successive approximation type DVM,
 Integrating type DVM, • Continuous balance type DVM

Prof. T R Choudhury, NIT Rourkela 207

Ramp Type DVMs
 The operation of a ramp-type DVM is based on the measurement of the time that a linear ramp voltage
takes to change from the level of the input voltage to zero voltage or vice versa. This time interval is
measured with an electronic time interval counter and the count is displayed as a number of digits on the
electronic indicating tubes of the voltmeter output readouts.
 The ramp voltage is continuously compared with the voltage under measurement (unknown voltage). At the
instant the value of ramp voltage becomes equal to the voltage under measurement, a coincidence circuit,
called the input comparator, generates a pulse which opens a gate. The ramp voltage continues to fall till it
reaches zero value (or ground value). At this instant another comparator, called the ground comparator,
generates a stop pulse. The output pulse from this ground comparator closes the gate. The time duration of
the gate opening is proportional to the value of the dc input voltage.
 The time elapsed between opening and closing the gate is t. During this time interval pulses from a clock
pulse oscillator pass through the gate and are counted and displayed. The decimal number indicated by the
readout is a measure of the value of the input voltage. The sample rate multivibrator determines the rate at
which the measurement cycles are initiated. The sample rate circuit provides an initiating pulse for the ramp
generator to start its next ramp voltage. At the same time a reset pulse is generated, which resets the
counter to zero state.

Prof. T R Choudhury, NIT Rourkela 208

Ramp Type DVMs Contd..

Prof. T R Choudhury, NIT Rourkela 209

Integrating Type DVMs
 Such a digital voltmeter makes use of an integration technique which employs a voltage to frequency (V/f )
conversion. This voltmeter indicates the true average value of the unknown voltage over a fixed measuring
period.
 An analog voltage can be converted into digital form by producing pulses whose frequency is proportional to
the analog input voltage. These pulses are counted by a counter for a fixed duration and the reading of the
counter will be proportional to the frequency of the pulses, and hence, to the analog voltage.
 A block diagram of a voltage to frequency ADC is shown in Figure. The analog input voltage VA is applied to
an integrator which in turn produces a ramp signal whose slope is proportional to the input voltage. When
the output voltage V0 attains a certain value (a preset threshold level), a trigger pulse is produced and also
a current pulse is generated which is used to discharge the integrator capacitor C. Now a new ramp is
initiated. The time between successive threshold level crossings is inversely proportional to the slope of the
ramp. Since the ramp slope is proportional to the input analog voltage VA, the frequency of the output
pulses from the comparator is, therefore, directly proportional to the input analog voltage. This output
frequency may be measured with the help of a digital frequency counter.
 The above method provides measurement of the true average of the input signal over the ramp duration,
and so provides high discrimination against noise present at the [Link], the digitising rates are slow
because of high integration durations. The accuracy of this method is comparable with the ramp type ADC,
and is limited by the stability of the integrator time constant, and the stability and accuracy of the
comparator. This DVM has the drawback that it needs excellent characteristics in the linearity of the ramp.
The ac noise and supply noise are averaged out.

Prof. T R Choudhury, NIT Rourkela 210

Integrating Type DVMs Contd..

Prof. T R Choudhury, NIT Rourkela 211

Multimeter
 A digital multimeter is an electronic instrument which can measure very precisely the dc and ac voltage,
current (dc and ac), and resistance. All quantities other than dc voltage is first converted into an equivalent dc
voltage by some device and then measured with the help of digital voltmeter.
For measurement of ac voltage, the input voltage, is fed through a
calibrated, compensated attenuator, to a precision full-wave
rectifier circuit followed by a ripple reduction filter. The resulting dc
is fed to an Analog Digital Converter (ADC) and the subsequent
display system. Many manufacturers provide the same attenuator
for both ac and dc measurements.
For current measurement, the drop across an internal calibrated
shunt is measured directly by the ADC in the ‘dc current mode’,
and after ac to dc conversion in the ‘ac current mode’. This drop
is often in the range of 200 mV (corresponding to full scale).
Due to the lack of precision in the ac–dc conversions, the accuracy in the ac range is generally of the order of 0.2 to
0.5%. In addition, the measurement range is often limited to about 50 Hz at the lower frequency end due to the ripple
in the rectified signal becoming a non-negligible percentage of the display and hence results in fluctuation of the
displayed number. At the higher frequency end, deterioration of the performance of the ADC converter limits the
accuracy. In ac measurement the reading is often average or rms values of the unknown current.
Prof. T R Choudhury, NIT Rourkela 212
Time, Frequency and Phase Angle
Measurement using CRO Spectrum

Prof. T R Choudhury, NIT Rourkela 213

Wave Analyzer
 It is well known that any periodic waveform can be represented as the sum of a d.c.
component and a series of sinusoidal harmonics. Analysis of a waveform consists of
determination of the values of amplitude, frequency, and sometime phase angle of the
harmonic components. Graphical and mathematical methods may be used for the
purpose but these methods are quite laborious. The analysis of a complex waveform
can be done by electrical means using a band pass filter network to single out the
various harmonic components. Networks of these types pass a narrow band of
frequency and provide a high degree of attenuation to all other frequencies.
 A wave analyser, in fact, is an instrument designed to measure relative amplitudes of
single frequency components in a complex waveform. Basically, the instrument acts
as a frequency selective voltmeter which is tuned to the frequency of one signal
while rejecting all other signal components. The desired frequency is selected by a
frequency calibrated dial to the point of maximum amplitude. The amplitude is
indicated either by a suitable voltmeter or a CRO.

Prof. T R Choudhury, NIT Rourkela 214

Wave Analyser Contd..
 There are two types of wave analysers,
depending upon the frequency ranges used,
(i) Frequency Selective wave analyser, and
(ii) Heterodyne wave analyser.
Frequency Selective wave analyser:
It is used for audio frequency measurement (20
Hz – 20 kHz).
It has a filter section with a very narrow
passband which can be turned the frequency of
interest.
Waveform to be analysed in terms of its
separate frequency components is applied to an
input attenuator that is set by the meter range
switch on the front panel.
Driver amplifier feeds the attenuated waveform to a high Q active filter. The filter consists of a cascaded
arrangement of RC resonant sections and filter amplifiers.
Prof. T R Choudhury, NIT Rourkela 215
Wave Analyser Contd..
 The passband of the total filter section is covered in decade steps over the entire audio range by switching
capacitors in the RC sections.
 Close tolerance polystyrene capacitors are generally used for selecting the frequency ranges. Precision
potentiometers are used to tune the filter to any desired frequency within the selection passband.
 A final amplifier stage supplies the selected signal to the meter circuit and to an untuned buffer amplifier.
The buffer amplifier can be sued to drive a recorder or an electronic counter. The meter is driven by an
average type detector and usually has several voltage ranges as well as a decibel scale.

Prof. T R Choudhury, NIT Rourkela 216

Wave Analyser Contd..
Heterodyne Wave Analyser:
 For frequency measurements in megahertz range, a
heterodyne wave analyser is used.
 The input signal is fed through an attenuator and
amplifier before being mixed with a local oscillator.
The frequency of this oscillator is adjusted to give a
fixed frequency output which is in the passband of
the i.f. amplifier.
 This signal is then mixed with a second crystal
controlled oscillator, whose frequency is such that
the output from the mixer is centered on zero Applications of Wave Analyser:
frequency. The subsequent active filter has a • Electrical Measurements
controllable bandwidth, passes the selected • Sound Measurements
component of the frequency to the indicating meter. • Vibration Measurements

Prof. T R Choudhury, NIT Rourkela 217

Digital Counter
 Counter is a sequential circuit. A digital circuit which is used for a counting pulses is known counter. Counter
is the widest application of flip-flops. It is a group of flip-flops with a clock signal applied. Counters are of
two types.

Asynchronous or ripple counters: The logic diagram of a 2-bit

ripple up counter is shown in figure. The toggle (T) flip-flop are
being used. But we can use the JK flip-flop also with J and K
connected permanently to logic 1. External clock is applied to the
clock input of flip-flop A and QA output is applied to the clock input
of the next flip-flop i.e. FF-B.

Synchronous counters: If the "clock" pulses are applied to all

the flip-flops in a counter simultaneously, then such a counter is
called as synchronous counter.

Prof. T R Choudhury, NIT Rourkela 218

Digital Counter Contd..
Application of counters
 Frequency counters

 Digital clock

 Time measurement

 A to D converter

 Frequency divider circuits

 Digital triangular wave generator.

Prof. T R Choudhury, NIT Rourkela 219

Frequency Meter
 The signal is converted to trigger pulse and applied continuously to an AND
gate, as shown in Fig. A pulse of 1s is applied to the other terminal, and the
number of pulses counted this period indicates the frequency.

The block diagram of a digital frequency meter is shown in

Fig. The signal may be amplified before being applied to the
Schmitt trigger. The Schmitt trigger converts the input signal
into a square wave with fast rise and fall times, which is then
differentiated and clipped. As a result, the output from the
Schmitt trigger is a train of pulses, one pulse for each cycle The counter displays the number of pulses that
of the signal. have passed through it in the time interval between
start and stop. If this interval is known, the pulses
The output pulses from the Schmitt trigger are feed to a
rate and hence the frequency of counts displayed
START/STOP gate. When this gate is ‘ON’, the input
by counter and t is the time interval between start
pulses pass through this gate and are feed directly to the
and stop of gate. Therefore frequency of the
electronic counter, which counts the number of pulses.
unknown signal,
When this gate is ‘OFF’, the counter stops counting the 𝑁
incoming pulses. 𝑓=
Prof. T R Choudhury, NIT Rourkela
𝑡 220
Frequency Meter Contd..
There are two signals to be traced:
 Input Signal (or the counted signal).
The signal whose frequency is to be
measured.
 Gating Signal: This determines the
length of time during which the
counters (which consists of decade
counter assemblies) are allowed to
totalize the pulse separated by the
period of the origin input signal.

Prof. T R Choudhury, NIT Rourkela 221

 Storage Oscilloscope
 Analog Storage Oscilloscope: An analog storage oscilloscope uses the phenomenon of secondary electron
emission to build up and store electrostatic charges on the surface of an insulated target. Such oscilloscopes are
widely used (i) for real-time observation of events that occur only once, and (ii) for displaying the waveform of a very
low frequency (VLF) signal.
A mesh storage CRT, illustrated in Fig., contains a storage mesh,
flood guns and a collimator, in addition to all the elements of a
standard CRT. The storage mesh that is the storage target behind
the phosphor screen is a conductive mesh covered with dielectric
material consisting of a thin layer of material such as magnesium
fluoride. The writing gun is a high-energy electron gun similar to
the conventional gun, giving a narrow focused beam which can
be deflected and used to write the information to be stored. The
writing gun etches a positively charged pattern on the storage manner, both in horizontal and vertical
mesh or target by knocking off secondary emission electrons. direction, traces out the wave pattern on the
This positively charged pattern remains exactly in the position on storage mesh. In order to make the pattern
the storage target where it is deposited. This is due to the visible, even after several hours, special
excellent insulating property of the magnesium fluoride coating on electron guns, known as the flood guns are
the storage target. The electron beam, which is deflected in the switched on.
conventional
Prof. T R Choudhury, NIT Rourkela 222
Storage Oscilloscope Contd..
 The flood guns are of simple construction and are placed inside the CRT in a position between the direction
plates and the storage target and they emit low-velocity electrons covering a large area towards the screen.
The electron paths are adjusted by the collimator electrodes consisting of a conductive coating on the inside
surface of the CRT. The collimator electrodes are biased so as to distribute the flood gun electrons evenly
over the target surface and causes the electrons to be perpendicular to the storage mesh. Most of the flood
electrons are stopped and collected by the collector mesh and, therefore, never reach the phosphor screen.
Only electrons near the stored positive charge are pulled to the storage target with sufficient force to hit the
phosphor screen. The CRT display, therefore, will be an exact replica of the pattern which was initially
stored on the target and the display will remain visible as long as the flood gun operates. For erasing of the
pattern on the storage target, a negative charge is applied to neutralise the stored positive charge.
 For achieving variable persistence, the erase voltage is applied in the form of pulses instead of a steady dc
voltage; by varying the width of these pulses the rate of erase is controlled.

Prof. T R Choudhury, NIT Rourkela 223

Storage Oscilloscope Contd..
Digital Storage Oscilloscope: There are a number of distinct disadvantages of the analog storage
oscilloscope. These disadvantages are listed below:
 There is a finite amount of time that the storage tube can preserve a stored waveform. Eventually, the
waveform will be lost. The power to the storage tube must be present as long as the image is to be stored.
 The trace of a storage tube is, generally, not as fine as a normal cathode ray tube. Thus, the stored trace is
not as crisp as a conventional oscilloscope trace.
 The writing rate of the storage tube is less than a conventional cathode ray tube, which limits the speed of
the storage oscilloscope.
 The storage cathode ray tube is considerably more expensive than a conventional tube and requires
additional power supplies.
 Only one image can be stored. If two traces are to be compared, they must be superimposed on the same
screen and displayed together.

Prof. T R Choudhury, NIT Rourkela 224

Storage Oscilloscope Contd..
 A superior method if trace storage is the digital storage oscilloscope (DSO). In this technique, the waveform
to be stored is digitised, stored in a digital memory and retrieved for display on the storage oscilloscope.
The stored waveform is continually displayed by repeatedly scanning the stored waveform and, therefore, a
conventional CRT can be employed for the display and thus some of the cost of the additional circuitry for
digitizing and storing the input waveform is offset. The stored display can be displayed indefinitely as long
as the power is applied to the memory, which can be supplied with a small battery. The digitised waveform
can be further analysed by either the oscilloscope or by loading the content of the memory into a computer.
Some of the digital storage oscilloscope use 12-bit converter, giving 0.025% resolution and 0.1% accuracy
on voltage and time readings, which are better than the 2.5% of analog storage oscilloscopes. Split screen
capabilities (simultaneously displaying live analog traces and replayed stored ones) enable easy
comparison of the two signals. Pre-trigger capability is also an important advantage. The display of stored
data is possible in both amplitude versus time, and X-Y modes. In addition to the fast memory readout
employed for CRT display, a slow readout is possible for developing hard copy with external plotters.
 The only drawback of digital storage oscilloscopes is limited bandwidth by the speed of their analog-to-
digital converters (ADCs). However, 20 MHz digitising rates available on some oscilloscopes yield a
bandwidth of 5 MHz, which is adequate for most of the applications.

Prof. T R Choudhury, NIT Rourkela 225

Storage Oscilloscope Contd..
 Figure gives the block diagram of a digital
storage oscilloscope (DSO). It uses both of
digital-to-Analog and Analog-to-Digital
(DACs and ADCs) for digitising, storing and
displaying analog waveforms. The overall
operation is controlled and synchronised by
the control circuits. Which usually have
microprocessor executing a control program
stored in Read-Only Memory (ROM). The
data acquisition portion of the system
containsa sample-and-hold (S/H) and a
analog-to-digital converter that repetitively
samples and digitized the input signal at a
rate determined by the sample clock, and
transmits the digitised data to memory for When memory is full, the next data point from the ADC is stored
storage. The control circuit makes sure that
successive data points are stored in in the first memory location writing over the old data, and so on
successive memory locations by continually for successive data points. This data acquisition and the storage
updating the memory’s address counter. process continue until the control circuit receives a trigger signal
from either the input waveform (internal trigger) or an external
Prof. T R Choudhury, NIT Rourkela trigger source. 226
Storage Oscilloscope Contd..
 When the triggering occurs, the system stops acquiring data further and enters the display mode of
operation, in which all or part of the memory data is repetitively displayed on the Cathode Ray Tube (CRT).
 In display operation two DACs are employed for providing the vertical and horizontal deflecting voltages for
the cathode ray tube. Data from memory produce the vertical deflection of the electron beam, while the time
base counter provides the horizontal deflection in the form of a staircase sweep signal. The control circuits
synchronize the display operation by incrementing the memory address counter and the time base counter
at the same time so that each horizontal step of the electron beam is accompanied by a new data value
from the memory to the vertical DAC. The counters are continuously recycled so that the stored data points
are repetitively re-plotted on the screen of the CRT. The screen display consists of discrete dots
representing the various data points but the number of dots is usually so large (typically 1000 or more) that
they tend to blend together and appear to be a continuous waveform.
 The display operation is transmitted when the operator presses a front panel button that commends the
digital storage oscilloscope to begin a new data acquisition cycle.

Prof. T R Choudhury, NIT Rourkela 227

 Cathode Ray Oscilloscope
 The main part of the CRO is Cathode Ray
Tube (CRT). It generates the electron beam,
accelerates the beam to a high velocity,
deflects the beam to create the image and
contains a phosphor screen where the
electron beam eventually becomes visible.
The phosphor screen is coated with ‘aquadag’
to collect the secondary emitted electrons.
For accomplishing these tasks, various
electrical signals and voltages are required,
which are provided by the power supply
circuit of the oscilloscope. Low voltage supply
is required for the heater of the electron gun
for generation of electron beam and high Horizontal and vertical deflecting plates are fitted between the
voltage, of the order of few thousand volts, is
electron gun and screen to deflect the beam according to the
required for cathode ray tube to accelerate
the beam. Normal voltage supply, say a few input signal. The electron beam strikes the screen and creates a
hundred volts, is required for other control visible spot. This spot is deflected on the screen in the horizontal
circuits of the oscilloscope. direction (X axis) with constant time dependent rate.
Prof. T R Choudhury, NIT Rourkela 228
Cathode Ray Oscilloscope Contd..
 This is accomplished by a time base circuit provided in the oscilloscope. The signal to be viewed is supplied
to the vertical deflection plates through the vertical amplifier, which raises the potential of the input signal to
a level that will provide usable deflection of the electron beam. Now electron beam deflects in two
directions, horizontal on X-axis and vertical on Y-axis. A triggering circuit is provided for synchronising two
types of deflections so that horizontal deflection starts at the same point of the input vertical signal each
time it sweeps.

Prof. T R Choudhury, NIT Rourkela 229

Electrostatic Deflection
 A general arrangement for electrostatic deflection. There are two parallel plates with a potential applied
between. These plates produce a uniform electrostatic filed in the Y direction. Thus any electron entering
the field will experience a force in the Y direction and will be accelerate in that direction. There is no force
either in X direction or Z direction and hence there will be no acceleration of electrons in these directions.
Let, Ea = voltage of pre-accelerating anode; (volt)
e = charge of an electron; (Coulomb)
m = mass of electron; (kg)
θ = deflection angle of the electron beam
vox = velocity of electron when entering the field of deflecting
plates; (m/s)
Ed = potential difference between deflecting plates; (volt)
d = distance between deflecting plates; (m)
ld = length of deflecting plates; (m)
L = distance between screen and the centre of the deflecting plates; (m)
y = displacement of the electron beam from the horizontal axis at time t
and D = deflection of the electron beam on the screen in Y direction; (m)
Prof. T R Choudhury, NIT Rourkela 230
Electrostatic Deflection Contd..
 The loss of potential energy (PE ) when the electron moves from cathode to accelerating anode;
𝑃𝐸 = 𝑒𝐸𝑎
1
The gain in kinetic energy (KE ) by an electron, 𝐾𝐸 = 𝑚𝑣𝑜𝑥 2
2

Equating the two energies, we get, 𝑣𝑜𝑥 = 2𝑒𝐸𝑞 /𝑚

This is the velocity of the electron in the X direction when it enters the deflecting plates. The velocity in the X
direction remains same throughout the passage of electrons through the deflecting plates as there is no force
acting in the direction.
The electric field intensity in Y direction, 𝜀𝑌 = 𝐸𝑑 Τ𝑑
Force acting on electron in Y direction, 𝐹𝑌 = 𝑒𝜀𝑌 = 𝑒𝐸𝑑𝑑
Suppose ay is the acceleration of the electron in the Y direction, therefore, 𝐹𝑌 = 𝑚𝑎𝑌 ; or, 𝑎𝑌 = 𝑒𝜀𝑌 /𝑚
As there is no initial velocity in the Y direction, the displacement y at any instant t in the Y direction is,
1 1 𝑒𝜀𝑌 2
𝑦= 𝑎𝑌 𝑡 2 = 𝑡
2 2 𝑚

Prof. T R Choudhury, NIT Rourkela 231

Electrostatic Deflection Contd..
As the velocity in the X direction is constant, the displacement in X direction is given by, 𝑥 = 𝑣𝑜𝑥 𝑡; or, 𝑡 =
𝑥Τ𝑣𝑜𝑥
1 𝑒𝜀𝑌
Substituting the above value of t in the equation of y, we have 𝑦 = 𝑥2
2 𝑚𝑣𝑜𝑥 2

This is the equation of a parabola.

𝑑𝑦 𝑒𝜀𝑌
The slope at point (x,y) is = 𝑥
𝑑𝑥 𝑚𝑣𝑜𝑥 2

Putting x = ld in the above equation, we get the value of tan 𝜃. Thus,

𝑒𝜀𝑌 𝑒𝐸𝑑 𝑙𝑑
tan 𝜃 = 𝑙 =
𝑚𝑣𝑜𝑥 2 𝑑 𝑚𝑑𝑣𝑜𝑥 2
After leaving the deflection plates, the electrons travel in a straight line. The straight line of travel of electron is
tangent to the parabola at x = ld and this tangent intersects the X axis at point O’. The location of this point is
given by
𝑒𝜀𝑌 𝑙𝑑 2
𝑦 2𝑚𝑣𝑜𝑥 2 𝑙𝑑
𝑥= = 𝑒𝜀 =
Prof. T R Choudhury, NIT Rourkela tan 𝜃 𝑌
𝑙 2 232
𝑚𝑣𝑜𝑥 2 𝑑
Electrostatic Deflection Contd..
The apparent origin is thus the centre of the deflecting plates, the deflection D on the screen is given by
𝐿𝑒𝐸𝑑 𝑙𝑑
𝐷 = 𝐿 tan 𝜃 =
𝑚𝑑𝑣𝑜𝑥 2
2𝑒𝐸𝑎
Substituting the value of 𝑣𝑜𝑥 2 = in the above equation,
𝑚
𝐿𝑒𝐸𝑑 𝑙𝑑 𝑚 𝐿𝐸𝑑 𝑙𝑑
𝐷= × =
𝑚𝑑 2𝑒𝐸𝑎 2𝑑𝐸𝑎

Prof. T R Choudhury, NIT Rourkela 233