Methods of Experimental Physics Semester 1 2005

Lecture 2: Electrical Measurements

2.1 Introduction
Almost every measurement that one makes boils down to making an electrical measurement. Read
the great quote below for something interesting (Burniston-Brown, A new treatment of the theory of
dimensions, 1942)!
420 G. Burniston Brown
sense organs beyond one colour-blind eye, and to call the objects of his emasculated
attention pointer readings.
The physicist claims that he measures many things-mass, force, potentials
and so on-but what he actually observes are pointer readings, and this, together
with the faculty of counting, is all that is required for that part, and it is important
to remember that it is only a part, of science called exact science. A hint in this
direction might have been obtained by recalling that mass is a coefficient invented
by Newton, force is the hypothetical cause of change, and potential is a pure
Western-European myth. None of them cauld, therefore, be measured directly.
Now consideration will show that there are only two direct ways of making
use of pointer readings in the process of introducing numbers into nature:
in one case the alignment is of two different pairs of marks ; in the other case one
of the marks at least, and usually both marks, must be the same in each pair of
alignments. The first type of observation leads to the mea'surement of a length
or space interval and the second to a measurement of a time interval. I n the case
of measurement of mass by a balance, or resistance by a bridge method, although
a pointer reading is observed, i t is not this reading which introduces a number,
i.e. it is not by counting marks on this scale that the number is obtained. The
number is got by pure counting elsewhere.
This involves the use
of a material scale which is placed in contact with both marks on the object to be
measured. The zero mark on the scale is aligned with one of the marks on the
object, and then the mark on the scale which is in contact with the second mark
on the object is noted. By a process of counting marks on the scale between the
two marks with which alignment has been made, a number is arrived at which is
defined to be the length between the two marks on the object. Usually the ob-
server moves from one point to the other to observe the two alignments, so that
a time interval is necessarily involved in the measurement of a length. To avoid
movement the observer may remain at rest at the point of zero alignment and
arrange mirrors in such a way as to superimpose an image of the distant alignment
upon the zero position, so that both may be observed with the same glance. But
even in this case, as we know, a time interval is involved. This is usually expressed
by saying that " light takes time to travel ". I n this paper it will be most im-
portant to avoid this popular form of speech. We shall emphasize that, in the
case of light, nothing observable has ever been shown to travel at all. We shall
not, therefore, make a hypothesis for which there is no evidence whatever ; we
shall restrict ourselves to the discussion of interaction, which is what we observe.
Now the question which arises in connection with the above discussion of
measurement is this : is interaction instantaneous ? I n other words, if a disturb-
ance is produced at the point occupied by the observer, does its interaction with
a distant object occur at the same time (on the observer's clock) as that at which
the disturbance was caused ? I t is, of course, well known that this is not the case.
The experiment that shows this is one of the Fizeau-wheel type. A disturbance
Consider first the simple measurement of length.
A new treatment of the theory of dimensions
419
say of it all, as Fourier said originally-" I t is derived from primary notions
. . .
Now i t is on just such notions which underly explicitly or otherwise the
development of physical science that those interested in the philosophy of science
must concentrate critical attention.
The treatment developed in this paper is the result of critical consideration
of the acts of measurement whereby numbers are introduced into nature, and
follows the application of the same method to the problems of electric and mag-
netic induction (Brown, 1940 a and b). It appears that there are only two
fundamental measurements, those of length and time, and this has led to the view
that all physical quantities must be capable of expression in terms of length and
time alone. It was interesting, therefore, to find that Maxwell (1881) mentions
this possibility, although he does not seem to have favoured its adoption. Lord
Kelvin (1889) also considered the possibility, saying : " There is something
exceedingly interesting in seeing that we can practically found a metrical system
on a unit of length and a unit of time. There is nothing new in it, since it has been
known from the time of Newton, but it is still a subject full of fresh interest.
The very thought of such a thing is full of many lessons in science that have
scarcely yet been realised, especially as to the ultimate properties of matter."
The treatment adopted in this paper had as its original stimulus two definitions
by Sir Arthur Eddington. The first was his emphasis on the fact that " the whole
subject matter of exact science consists of pointer readings and similar indica-
tions '' (Eddington, 1928), which is really a definition of exact science, and the
second was his definition of the electric charge e, viz., that e is only manifested in
the presence of other charges, and in particular, for simplicity, in the presence of
one other charge, and it is a measure of the mutual interaction.
Consideration of the first led to the view that the only measurements that
physicists actually require to make are either of space-like or time-like intervals,
and consequently that dimensional reasoning should be in terms of only L and T,
and the second (since Eddington's definition applies equally to M, the mass)
to the view that the dimensions of charge and mass should be the same, since the
methods of measurements of their respective interactions are identical in theory,
e.g. by a torsion balance. The new treatment of dimensional theory which
follows is more in line with the present philosophy of physics than the classical
" intuitive " presentation.
left us without proof."
2. POI NTER READI NGS
I n exact science, numbers are introduced into nature by certain conventional
and historic processes, If we exclude the process of pure counting, by which,
for instance, we find the number of Jupiter's moons, these conventional processes
are found to consist of visual observations of the alignment of two marks, together
with counting. I n exact science these are the only observations that are necessary,
and this has led Eddington to describe a physicist as a man who requires no
We have moved on slightly from there - today it boils down to connecting a computer to a digital device
(big hassle always), and then taking vastly too much data, with typically very small random errors that
falsely leads the experimenter to think that the errors in the experimental results are nil (of course, one
has to worry about all the forms of systematic error still). Nonetheless, is is still true in the 21st century
as it was throughout the last that when you want to make a measurement of some physical parameter it
is basically some electrical measurement. I want to consider in this lecture how these measurements are
made, the limitations to the various approaches, and what other techniques one can use to make them
better. In class we will do this interactively and so of course, these notes only list those things that I
thought up - rather than all the good ideas that you have thought about when we actually did it. There
has to be some advantage to turning up!
2.2 Voltage Measurements
2-1
Lecture 2: Electrical Measurements 2-2
2.2.1 Moving coil meters
Back when physicists were emasculated colour-blind individuals they made use of a pointer based tech-
nique for measuring and comparing voltage, current and impedance. We will have a quick look at this
for historical reasons before moving on to more interesting things. A diagram of a typical device is given
in Figure 1.
Figure 1: Moving coil meters: DArsonval style
As current is passed through the coils a magnetic force is developed between the central coil and the
static magnetic eld of the permanent magnet. The entire central coil is mounted on jewelled bearings.
The springs attached to the moving coil also bring the current into the coil. The meter therefore measures
current. How do you measure voltage and resistance with such a device. Simple,
Voltage: Use a high quality resistor to convert the voltage to be measured into a current. Then
pass this current through the moving coil.
Resistance: Use a high quality voltage source and a series resistor to set-up a current through the
resistor of interest. We set the output current to be equal to the full scale value when the output
terminals are shorted together. We then include the resistor to be measured between the terminals
and measure the decrease in the current owing.
In order to minimize the load placed on the circuit (and therefore minimize the eect of the measurement
itself) one wants a current meter with the lowest possible impedance, while for a voltage measurement
you want the highest possible impedance (i.e. the high quality resistor should be of high value). For
the resistance measurement it is probable that other things are important (i.e. probably dont want to
pass too much current through the resistor because you may heat it and therefore change its impedance
- termed self-heating).
2.2.1.1 Changing range on the multimeter
The coil will have a xed full-scale current range determined by the design of the coil, springs and
magnet. To allow for varying the range of current to be measured one uses a current shunt. This is
merely another resistor in parallel with the coil that provides another current path. The current that
passes through the meter, i
m
is now reduced to
i
m
i
tot
=
R
sh
R
sh
+R
m
where R
sh
is the shunt resistance and
R
m
is the meter coil resistance. The shunt resistor is chosen by some external switch. For the highest
current values the shunt resistor becomes impractically small - in this case one inserts a series resistor
with the meter to raise its eective resistance.
Lecture 2: Electrical Measurements 2-3
In order to switch the sensitivity in the voltmeter mode we switch the value of the series resistor. For
the impedance measurements we change the value of the series resistor.
2.2.2 Direct Voltage Comparison
If we do this we can compare an unknown voltage against a known voltage. Most techniques to do this
require a sensitive null detector i.e. a device that has the ability to detect small non-zero voltages or
currents (see Figure 2). i.e. How do we make these adjustable voltage sources and the null detector?
Unknown
Voltage
Adjustable
Known
Voltage
Detector
Vx Vr
Figure 2: The null detector detects either the small current owing or the small voltage dierence
For the variable source we can use a precision variable divider along with a voltage standard. In the
19th century this voltage source was based on a chemical energy gap (i.e. a battery), whereas today
they are more typically based on a semiconductor energy gap (i.e. a Zener diode). For the utmost
precision experiments (in Standards Laboratories) they make use of the superconducting energy gap in
a Josephson Junction - this voltage can be related to fundamental properties of the Universe. When
Vs
Vx
r
Null
Detector
rs
R1
R2
Figure 3: The null detector detects the small current owing or the small voltage dierence between
the variable source and unknown voltage
balanced V
x
= V
R
=
R
1
R
1
+R
2
V
S
if R
S
R
1
+ R
2
. This voltage measurement has essentially come down
to a measurement of an accurate resistance ratio, = R
1
/(R
1
+ R
2
) The good thing about this design
is that at the measurement point no current is drawn from the unknown source (so the value of r is
irrelevant). What are the bad things:
1. How do we make an accurate measurement of ?
2. Does current from V
S
cause irreversible changes? (e.g. is V
S
comes from a battery
3. Is r
S
small enough?, or at least constant?
To make sure that problems (2) and (3) are avoided one typically uses an intermediate voltage standard
that can supply lots of current (i.e. r
S
is small). One then regularly calibrates this new standard against
the xed standard to eliminate drifts. By using the intermediate standard in the right hand position of
Figure 3 on both occasions one avoids ever needing to draw substantial current from either the standard
or the voltage source under test.
In order to achieve challenge (1) one can take a number of routes: one can use a simple analog rotary
or linear potentiometer and measure its position or angle as a measure of its actual impedance. This
is easy but is going to be low precision. A much better approach is to to use a sequence of switched
digital potentiometers in series. The internals of one such digital pot is shown in Figure 4 - a switch
chooses how many resistors are included in the circuit. By ganging several of this devices in series (as
shown in Figure 5) one obtains a large range with potentially high precision and accuracy (as long as
the constituent resistors have good stability and accuracy). This works very well but can be dicult
(expensive) to purchase a large number of dierent valued resistors with accurately set values.
Lecture 2: Electrical Measurements 2-4
This diculty can be overcome by using an R-2R network (see Figure 6) in which the output voltage
is set by opening and closing the various switches. The output voltage of the network is equal to
V
out
= V
r
N/(2
n
1) where n is the number of switches, and where N is the digital equivalent of the
binary word represented by the switch position.
R R R R R R R R R R
Figure 4: An example of a digital potentiometer
10,000!
0 to
9!
0 to
90!
0 to
900!
0 to
9000!
FIXED
Figure 5: A series of digital potentiometers
ISO-9001
Registered
ADVANCED FILM DIVISION
4222 South Staples Street Corpus Christi, Texas 78411 Tel: 512-992-7900 Fax: 512-992-3377 www.irctt.com
AFD006/21SEPT98 Page 3 of 5
Digit a l in for ma t ion is pr es en t ed t o t h e la dder a s
in dividu a l bit s of a digit a l wor d s wit ch ed bet ween
a r efer en ce volt a ge (Vr ) a n d gr ou n d (Figu r e 4).
Depen din g on t h e n u mber a n d loca t ion of
t h e bit s s wit ch ed t o Vr or gr ou n d, Vou t will
va r y bet ween 0 volt s a n d Vr . If a ll in pu t s
are connect ed t o grou nd, 0 volt s is produ ced
a t t h e ou t pu t , if a ll in pu t s a r e con n ect ed t o
Vr , t h e ou t pu t volt a ge a ppr oa ch es Vr , a n d
if s ome in pu t s a r e con n ect ed t o gr ou n d a n d
s ome t o Vr t h en a n ou t pu t volt a ge bet ween
0 volt s a n d Vr occu r s . Th es e in pu t s (a ls o
ca lled bit s in t h e digit a l lin go) r a n ge fr om
t h e Mos t Sign ifica n t Bit t o t h e Lea s t Sig-
n ifica n t Bit . As t h e n a mes in dica t e, t h e
MSB, wh en a ct iva t ed, ca u s es t h e gr ea t es t
ch a n ge in t h e ou t pu t volt a ge a n d t h e LSB,
wh en a ct iva t ed, will ca u s e t h e s ma lles t
ch a n ge in t h e ou t pu t volt a ge. If we la bel
t h e bit s (or in pu t s ) bit 1 t o bit N t h e ou t pu t
volt a ge ca u s ed by con n ect in g a pa r t icu la r
bit t o Vr wit h a ll ot h er bit s gr ou n ded is :
Vou t = Vr / 2
N
wh er e N is t h e bit n u mber . For bit 1, Vou t =Vr / 2,
for bit 2, Vou t = Vr / 4 et c. Th e t a ble s h ows t h e
effect of in dividu a l bit loca t ion s t o t h e N
t h
bit .
Not ice t h a t s in ce bit 1 h a s t h e gr ea t es t effect on
t h e ou t pu t volt a ge it is des ign a t ed t h e Mos t Sig-
n ifica n t Bit .
Sin ce a n R/ 2R la dder is a lin ea r cir cu it , we
ca n a pply t h e pr in ciple of s u per pos it ion t o
ca lcu la t e Vou t . Th e expect ed ou t pu t volt -
a ge is ca lcu la t ed by s u mmin g t h e effect of
all bit s con n ect ed t o Vr . For example, if bit s
1 a n d 3 a r e con n ect ed t o Vr wit h a ll ot h er
in pu t s gr ou n ded, t h e ou t pu t volt a ge is ca l-
cu la t ed by:
Vou t = (Vr / 2)+(Vr / 8)
wh ich r edu ces t o
Vou t = 5Vr / 8.
Th e R/ 2R la dder is a bin a r y cir cu it . Th e
effect of each s u cces s ive bit appr oach in g t h e
LSB is 1/ 2 of t h e pr eviou s bit . If t h is s e-
qu en ce is ext en ded t o a la dder of in fin it e
b it s , t h e effect of t h e LSB on Vou t a p -
pr oa ch es 0. Con ver s ely, t h e fu ll-s ca le ou t pu t of
t h e n et wor k (wit h a ll bit s con n ect ed t o Vr ) a p-
pr oa ch es Vr a s s h own in equ a t ion (1).
R
2R
Bit 0
R
2R
Bit 1
2R
Bit 2
R R
2R
Bi t N-1
2R
2R
(Term.)
Vout
Bit N
R
thevenin
=R R
thevenin
=R R
thevenin
=R R
thevenin
=R R
thevenin
=R
Figure 3. Thevenin Resistance
R
2R
Bit 1
MSB
R
2R
Bi t 2
2R
Bit 3
R R
2R
Bi t N-1
2R
2R
Vout
Term.
Bi t N
LSB
Vr
Figure 4. R/2R Ladder of N Bits
# t i B t u o V
B S M 1 2 / r V
2 4 / r V
3 8 / r V
4 6 1 / r V
5 2 3 / r V
6 4 6 / r V
7 8 2 1 / r V
8 6 5 2 / r V
9 2 1 5 / r V
0 1 4 2 0 1 / r V
1 1 8 4 0 2 / r V
2 1 6 9 0 4 / r V
B S L N 2 / r V
N
Figure 6: A R-2R resistor divider network
2.2.3 Digital Voltmeter
Digital multimeters are based on either a digital to analog converter, or a dual-slope converter (both
explained later). Figure 7 shows a typical simple input divider This relies on all these resistors being
accurate selected, as well as the resistance being stable. A dierent type of resistor network as shown in
Figure 6 can eect the same operation but in this case one only needs to manufacture two dierent types
of resistor accurately - one sets the fraction of source voltage required by setting the switches in the
binary representation of the fraction desired. These resistor networks are sold with very high accuracy
all mounted within a chip.
2.2.3.1 Dual-slope conversion
One popular technique for analog to digital conversion relies on the use of charge integrators to convert
a measurement of voltage into a measurement of time. The input voltage to the unit is converted to a
current (e.g. most simply by using a resistor) and is then connected to a capacitor for a precise and xed
amount of time. A charge proportional to both the input voltage and the time period is stored on the
capacitor. A clock is then started and the capacitor connected to a constant current source. When the
Lecture 2: Electrical Measurements 2-5
Vin
9 M!
900k!
90k!
9k!
1k!
DVM
Figure 7: A resistor divider network to give multiple ranges on a DVM
voltage on the capacitor drops below some threshold value (e.g. 0 V), the clock is stopped and its value
read. The time for this discharge to occur is proportional to the original charge on the capacitor and
hence to the original voltage to be measured. DVMs from the cheap end up to an Agilent 34401 make
use of this process.
2.2.3.2 Voltage-Frequency Converters
Another technique for converting a voltage to a digital value is to, as above, connect the external voltage
to a constant current source and then to a capacitor to generate a charge that is increasing linearly with
time. The capacitor is also connected to a device that can deposit quanta of charge into the capacitor.
A feedback loop controls the rate of charge pulses in order that the voltage/charge on the capacitor is
kept constant with time. Clearly, the rate of charge pulses will be proportional to input voltage and a
simple counting of the pulse rate yields a measure of the input voltage.
2.2.3.3 Analog to Digital Conversion: ADC
There are many other ways to convert voltages into a number - we may look at some of these others later
in this course, although the upper two techniques are the most widely used approaches in convention
DVMs. I note that the R-2R ladder I described above is an immediate Digital to Analog converter (DAC)
- if I put a digital word onto the switches then the output voltage is an analog voltage proportional to
the value of the binary number. We can build an Analog to Digital converter (ADC) from one of these
DACs by comparing the voltage to be measured with the output of the DAC using a null detector. The
DAC word setting is then adjusted until its output is equal to the unknown voltage. We stop at this
point and the DAC word then represents the binary equivalent of the unknown voltage (see Chapter 9
in Horowitz and Hill for further details).
2.3 Measuring AC Voltage
AC is loosely intended to mean some voltage that is uctuating during the time it takes to make a
measurement. Usually this would be taken to intend an intentional and periodic modulation of the
voltage. The obvious question is what we should measure in order to characterise the magnitude of such
a signal. Is it most sensible to measure the amplitude (peak-to-peak, peak, root mean square?), or the
power?
All of these measures are obviously dierent. If we consider a sine-wave V (t) = Asin(t + ), then the
measures are:
peak-to-peak amplitude (p-p): 2A
peak amplitude (p) or sometimes (confusingly) just amplitude: A
root mean square (rms): A/

2
Lecture 2: Electrical Measurements 2-6
power: A
2
R/2 = R

t
1
+1/
t
1
V
2
(t) dt = RV (t)
2
However, for other types of signal (e.g. square or triangle waves) or for noise these relationships ar
dierent i.e. for white noise the peak-to-peak value (99/
Ways to measure AC signals:
1. If one can sample an AC signal fast enough then it is possible to sample the waveform and therefore
obtain all of these measurements by calculation, or even just give the waveform and therefore avoid
the diculty. One could, for example, just look at the waveform on a CRO (up to perhaps 100 GHz
these days).
2. Traditionally one used an true rms voltmeter to deliver the rms value for a wave. The voltmeter
obtains this by essentially determining the average power in the signal and taking the square root
of it i.e. the input waveform is squared (rectied) and then averaged, and then the square root
is taken of the nal value. The AC voltage signal produces the same heating in a resistor as DC
signal with a voltage equal to the root mean-square value of the AC signal.
3. Spectrum Analyzer: measures the spectrum of the signal from which is it possible to recover the
full time domain behaviour (i.e. give the waveform), or use the spectrum analyzer to deliver the
amplitude (in whatever form) of the most important sinusoidal components.
4. Lock-in Amplier: a tool that allows you to directly measure noise at various frequencies -discussed
later in course
2.4 Measuring Resistance
To measure resistance accurately one really needs to compare them with precision resistance standards.
The classic accurate method of doing this is the Wheatstone Bridge (actually invented by Hunter Christie
see Figure 8). The resistors labelled R
1
, R
2
, and R
s
are all standard resistors used to measure the
Null
Detector
R1
Rs
Rx
R2
V
Figure 8: The Classic Wheatstone Bridge
unknown resistance R
x
. R
s
is a variable resistor and is adjusted until the null detector declares that
the bridge is balanced, i.e. that there is no current owing along the central branch. We can solve to
determine what this means in terms of the values of the resistors and we nd that the balanced condition
corresponds to R
x
= R
s
R
1
/R
2
. The ratio R
1
/R
2
is referred to as a multiplier, and the ratio of these
two resistors could well be switch selectable for values between say 10
3
and 10
3
so that a broad range
Lecture 2: Electrical Measurements 2-7
of resistances can be measured. In general the sensitivity is optimal when all impedances are about the
same. One can use this bridge for both AC and DC measurements but you need to take into account
any reactances in the circuit. We often use such bridges for the sensor in sensitive thermometry in our
lab.
2.4.1 Errors in Resistance Measurement
The usual method for measuring the resistance is to pass current through it and measure the voltage
drop. Unfortunately, this very simple approach can cause some issues. If the resistor is based on many
turns of resistive wire then there may be some associated inductance, and there is always a little bit of
self-capacitance as well. The resulting impedance is dominated by resistance and may be represented as
the network shown here on Figure 9. One can calculate the impedance of this arrangement as:
Figure 9: Equivalent circuit of real resistor
Z =
R + j

CR
2
CL
2

2
+ L

C
2
L
2

4
+ C
2
R
2

2
2CL
2
+ 1
(1)
If R has been constructed so that L and C are small (obviously the desirable situation), then we can
assume that
2
LC 1 and
4
L
2
C
2
being the square of a small number will be real small. The previous
expression collapses to:
Z =
R +

L(1
2
LC) CR
2

1 +
2
C(CR
2
2L)
(2)
From this we nd that the real part is:
R
e
=
R
C (CR
2
2L)
2
+ 1
(3)
and the phase angle is approximately (assuming
2
LC 1):
tan =

L CR
2

R
(4)
So we can choose to have a frequency independent resistance by setting 2L/C = R
2
when we design the
resistor, or we can choose to have a resistor that has no phase shift (or reactance) by choosing L/C = R
2
.
Of course we cant do both at the same time. The usual choice is to do the later which means that most
resistors have a small frequency dependence.
2.4.2 Small Resistance
A resistor needs to be connected to the circuit with some wires and they of course possess resistance
as well. This lead resistance adds to the measurement of the resistance, and this is especially a big
problem if the resistance to be measured is small. It also becomes a big problem if we are trying to
make measurements in the presence of changing lead resistances (perhaps because they are in a large
and changing temperature environment), or if the leads are necessarily long. We can overcome this issue
by using a very sneaky technique called the 4-wire approach. In this case we connect four leads to the
resistor: two leads apply current through the resistor while the other two measure the voltage drop across
the resistor. If virtually no current ows in the sense leads then the resistance of the sense leads does
not enter into the measurement.
Lecture 2: Electrical Measurements 2-8
The resistance can be measured in a bridge conguration (called a Kelvin bridge - a 4 wire variant of the
Wheatstone bridge) or one can just make use of modern DVMs with input impedances of 10 M-10 G
in the sense leads. The unit will pass 1mA through the current leads (depends on the resistor under
study but is about this level for low resistances) while passing a few nA through the sense leads. This
leads to a reduction in the eect of lead resistance of about a factor of 10
6
.
2.5 Errors of Electrical Measurements
Remember from kindergarten that it is always possible to express any network of resistors and batteries
(however complicated) as a Thevenin equivalent or as a Norton equivalent circuit (this isnt a statement
that only one of these will work - both are equally valid for any situation, however often one is more
appropriate).
R
V R I
Figure 10: Thevenin and Norton equivalents
One nds the equivalent circuit elements from a real network by a couple of measurements. One measures
the open circuit voltage of the network to determine the voltage in the Thevenin equivalent circuit. If
one then also measures the short-circuit current then one obtains a series resistance. For the Norton
equivalent one measures the short-circuit current and that determines the value of the current source. If
one also measures the open circuit voltage then one can determine the value of the shunt resistor.
R V
Ideal
Voltmeter
R
I
Ideal
Ammeter
Figure 11: Here we show equivalent circuits for real meters
Lets model the meter when one is making voltage and current measurements. In Figure 11 we show
circuit models for real meters. They are shown as ideal meters in parallel or series with resistors. The
ideal voltmeter has an innite impedance while the ideal ammeter has a zero resistance. If we combine
the equivalent circuits with the Thevenin and Norton equivalents we obtain the following:
The intention of course is to measure the output voltage, V of the Thevenin circuit or the current, I of
the Norton equivalent. Any error in this measurement comes about from the non-ideality of the meter
and the non-ideality of the source under study.
Lets look rst at the voltmeter measurement in Figure 12. The ideal voltmeter is just making a simple
resistor divider measurement and so we obtain:
V
m
V
=
V + V
V
=
R
1
R
1
+ R
(5)
V
V
=
R
R + R
1
(6)
Lecture 2: Electrical Measurements 2-9
R1 V
Ideal
Voltmeter
R2
I
Ideal
Ammeter
R
V
R I
Figure 12: Here we show real meters connected to real sources
So the fractional error is given in the nal expression. If we now turn to the current measurement one
can show that it is equal to :
I
I
=
R
2
R + R
2
(7)
2.5.1 Power Transfer
It is often the case that one wants to transfer the maximum power from a source into a measurement
device (e.g. a meter) - this is especially so when one is trying to minimize noise.
Power absorbed by a measuring system (using the Thevenin circuit as the example):
P =
V
2
m
R
=
R
1
V
2
(R + R
1
)
2
(8)
where V
m
is the voltage over the internal resistor in the meter. This is a maximum as a function of R
1
when:
P
R
1
= 0 R
1
= RandV
m
=
1
2
V (9)
This is potentially a major diculty as it heavily loads the source output voltage i.e. V V/2 but if
R and R
1
are known (and stable) the error can be calculated and corrected. We will see that this power
matched position is often also the point at which the signal-to-noise ratio is maximized.
2.5.2 Thermal EMFs: from HP34401 manual
If one is trying to make low level voltage measurements it is frequently the case that thermoelectric
voltages will cause errors. These temperature dependent voltages are generated whenever one connects
two dissimilar metals together. The table below, Table 1, shows some typical levels:
Copper to Approx microV/degree
Copper < 0.3
Silver 0.5
Brass 3
Aluminium 5
Tin-Lead Solder 5
Copper Oxide 1000
Cadmium-Tin Solder 0.2
Table 1: Thermal EMFs
Lecture 2: Electrical Measurements 2-10
2.5.3 Power Line pick-up: from HP34401 manual
It is almost always the case that however careful one is when building electronics that there will always
be some electrical pick-up from the mains. In analog systems one can attempt to average these issues
away but making lengthy measurements but if you are required to make quick measurements there is
no real solution. If on the other hand one uses digital measurement techniques then it is possible to
suppress sensitivity by making measurements with an averaging time exactly equal to a multiple of the
power line cycle time.
2.5.4 Magnetic Field pick-up: from HP34401 manual
If you are attempting measurements in the presence of large varying magnetic elds then you need to
avoid induced currents in the circuit. It is sensible to use twisted pair wires to bring the signal to the
meter. Loose or vibrating leads can also induce error voltages so you should make sure the leads are
well secured. Whenever possible use physical separation or shielding materials to reduce the magnitude
of the magnetic elds.
2.5.5 Power dissipation eects: from HP34401 manual
Since real currents ow through resistors that are being measured it can heat the resistor and therefore
change its impedance. This often happens for resistors in cryogenic environments in which the specic
heat of materials has become very small, or in vacuum systems in which devices can have very high
degree of thermal isolation.
2.6 Amplication
Almost all of the techniques discussed in this section require signal levels of the order of a volt, and
currents of the order of 10mA in order to obtain good results. If the signal available is not of this level
then one needs to amplify the signal. We looked at some issues associated with noise in amplication
etc in the last lecture but will suspend discussion of the details of this until next time.