Solution of Mid Semester Paper

Paper Code: ETEC-207, Subject: Electronics Measurements and instrumentation

Q1(a). Explain dynamic characteristics of an instrument?

Ans: Static characteristics: The set of criteria defined for the instruments, which are used to
measure the quantities which are slowly varying with time or mostly constant, i.e., do not vary
with time, is called ‗static characteristics‘.

The various static characteristics are:

i) Accuracy
ii) Precision
iii) Sensitivity
iv) Linearity
v) Reproducibility
vi) Repeatability
vii) Resolution
viii) Threshold
ix) Drift
x) Stability
xi) Tolerance
xii) Range or span
Dynamic characteristics: The set of criteria defined for the instruments, which are changes
rapidly with time, is called ‗dynamic characteristics‘.
The various static characteristics are:
i) Speed of response
ii) Measuring lag
iii) Fidelity
iv) Dynamic error
Q1(b). What are the different types of errors related to measuring instruments?
Measuring instrument error refers to the combined accuracy and precision of a measuring
instrument, or the difference between the actual value and the value indicated by the instrument
(error).
Gross Errors: Gross errors are caused by mistake in using instruments or meters, calculating
measurement and recording data results. The best example of these errors is a person or operator
reading pressure gage 1.01N/m2 as 1.10N/m2.
Systematic Errors: The Systematic errors that occur due to fault in the measuring device are
known as systematic errors. Usually they are called as Zero Error – a positive or negative error.
These errors can be detached by correcting the measurement device. These errors may be classified
into different categories.
In order to understand the concept of systematic errors, let us classify the errors as:
  Instrumental Errors
 Environmental Errors
 Observational Errors
 Theoretical
Random Errors: Random errors are caused by the sudden change in experimental conditions and
noise and tiredness in the working persons. These errors are either positive or negative. An
example of the random errors is during changes in humidity, unexpected change in temperature
and fluctuation in voltage. These errors may be reduced by taking the average of a large number of
readings.
Q1(c). Define resolution and sensitivity of a digital meter.
Resolution: The smallest increment an instrument can detect and display—hundredths,
thousandths, millionths. The resolution of a digital multimeter traditionally was specified in terms
of the number of digits displayed. Typically this will be a number consisting of an integer and a
half, e.g. 3 ½ digits. By convention a half digit can display either a zero or 1.
Sensitivity is the smallest amount of difference in quantity that will change an instrument's
reading. Sensitivity is an absolute quantity, the smallest absolute amount of change that can be
detected by a measurement.
Q1(d). Differentiate between impact and non-impact printers.
Impact printers Non-Impact printers
1. It produces print on paper by striking 1. It produces print on paper with a non-
mechanism. striking mechanism.
2. It uses pins, hammers or wheel to strike 2. It uses laser, spray of special ink, or heat
against an inked ribbon to print on a and pressure to print on paper.
paper. 3. Non-Impact printers normally use
3. Normally impact printers use continuous individual paper sheets.
paper sheet. 4. Non-Impact printers are more expansive.
4. Impact printers are normally less 5. Print quality of impact printers is higher
expansive. than those of non-impact printers.
5. Print quality of impact printers is lower 6. Non-Impact printers use toner or
than those of non-impact printers. cartridge for printing on paper.
6. Impact printers use special inked ribbons 7. Non-Impact printers are very fast, they
to produce print on paper when print head can print many pages per minute.
strikes. 8. Non-Impact printers do not make a noise
7. Impact printers are low speed printers. because they do not use striking
They consume a lot of time to print a mechanism in which print head strikes on
document. ribbon and paper etc.
8. Impact printers are very noisy because 9. Examples of Non-Impact printers are
they strike print head. laser printers and inkjet printers.
9. Examples of Impact printers are Dot
matrix and daisy wheel printers.

Q. 1(e). What are the advantages of using LED in electronics display?

An LED is basically a flat panel display that uses
light producing diodes as the audio visual
display. An LED display panel screen is
available in Visual Impact Production large and
small sizes, depends on its use. LED diodes
works with sequenced instructions of light
signals to make a LED presentation. LED
displays are also used in posters and store signs.
A simple LED panel contains several LEDs, and a
LED display contains several LED panels. LED displays offer numerous benefits in contrast to
other light producing displays in Boston Led Screens. A light producing diode consists of a
semiconductor chip which is enclosed by a see-through plastic case. The plastic case permits the
light to pass through it. The release of diverse colors such as ultraviolet and infrared lights,
depends on the semiconductor size which is used in the diode. The basic advantage is the
appearance of LEDs, which look too awesome. It provides the slim screen with sleek design which
is adjustable at any place. LEDs provide bright image quality by enhancing the contrast and
enriching the range of colours. The wavelength range of lights used are such that to give high
quality. These LEDs monitor produces flicker free image which reduces eye fatigue, eye strains
and headaches. LEDs are environment-friendly and easy to use. Very efficient in giving response
and also by controlling their brightness and colour. LEDs don‘t produce heat because they do not
contain the fluorescent bulbs which can also cause damage by short-circuiting.
Q2(a). Discuss the working principle of integrating type DVM (Voltage to frequency conversion).
The principle of operation of an Integrating Type DVM is illustrated in Fig. 5.5.

A constant input voltage is integrated and the slope of the output ramp is proportional to the input
voltage. When the output reaches a certain value, it is discharged to 0 and another cycle begins.
The fre-quency of the output waveform is proportional to the input voltage. The block diagram is
illustrated in Fig. 5.6.

The input voltage produces a charging current, ei/R1

that charges the capacitor ‗C‘ to the reference
voltage er. When er is reached, the comparator
changes state, so as to trigger the precision pulse
generator. The pulse generator produces a pulse
of precision charge content that rapidly
discharges the capaci-tor. The rate of charging and
discharging produces a signal frequency that is
directly proportional to ei.

The voltage-frequency conversion can be considered to be a dual slope method, as shown in Fig.
5.7.

But in this case er and t2 are constants.

Let

The output frequency is proportional to the input voltage ei. This DVM has the disadvantage that it
requires excellent characteristics in linearity of the ramp. The ac noise and supply noise are
averaged out.
Q2(b). Explain Thermocouple instruments with its different types and also give its limitations?
The instrument which uses the thermocouple for the measurement of the temperature, current and
voltage such type of instrument is known as the thermocouple instrument. It is used for both the
AC and DC measurement. The thermocouple is an electric device which uses two wires of the
different metal. It‘s work on the principle that the
heat energy is converted into an electric energy at the
junction which is made of different metals. The
current whose magnitude is used to be measured
passes through the junction of the thermocouple. The
current produces the heat in the heater element, and the
thermocouple induces the electromotive force in the
output terminals. This emf is measured through the
PMMC instrument. The magnitude of the emf is proportional to the temperature and the RMS
value of the current. The most significant advantage of the thermocouple instrument is that it is
used for high-frequency measurement of current and voltage. The instrument is more accurate for
the frequency above 50Hz.

Principle of Operation of Thermoelectric Instrument

The circuit in which thermal emf generates is made of two dissimilar metals. The temperature at
their junction is written as

Where the a and b are constant, and their value depends on the properties of metal used in the
thermocouple. The approximate value of the a is 40 to 50 microvolt, and that of the b is a few
tenths to hundreds of microvolt/C2.
Let = Δθ temperature difference between hot and cold junction. Thus their temperature is
expressed as

The heater produces the heat which is directly proportional to the I 2R. Where I is the RMS value of
current and R is the resistance of the heating element. The rise in temperature is proportional to the
heat produces by the heating element.

The thermocouple instrument has two junctions cold and hot. The difference between these two
junctions is expressed as

The value of b is very small as compared to the a and hence it is neglected. The temperature at the
junction is expressed as

The deflection of PMMC instrument is directly proportional to the emf induces in the terminals.
The deflection of the moving coil instruments is expressed as

Where K3 – aK1K2R = a constant.

The instrument shows the square law response.
Construction of Thermoelectric Instrument
Thermoelectric element and the indicating instrument are the two main parts of the thermo-electric
instrument.
Thermoelectric elements
Four types of thermoelectric element are used in the thermocouple instrument. Their types are
explained below in details.
1. Contact Type – The contact type element uses the separate heater. The junction of the
thermocouple is contacted with the heater shown in the figure below.

The electric heating element is used for the following purposes.

1. The heater element converts the
electrical energy into thermal
energy.
2. The heat energy is converted into
thermal energy with the help of
Seebeck effect.
3. The output terminal of the
 thermocouple is connected to PMMC instrument. The smallest amount of the electric energy
is used for deflecting the pointer of PMMC instrument, and this energy is stored in the spring
of the instrument.
2. Non-contact type Instrument – In this instrument, there is no electrical contact between the
heating element and the thermocouple. It is separated by the electrical insulation. The insulation
makes the system less sensitive and slow as compared to the contact type instrument.
3. Vacuum Thermo-Element – In the vacuum tube instrument, the heater and the thermocouple
are placed in the evacuated glass tube. This vacuum tube increases the efficiency of the
instruments because heater remains hot for a long time.

4. Bridge Type – In the bridge type instrument,

the current is directly passed through the
thermocouple and raises their temperature.
The temperature of the thermocouple is
directly proportional to the RMS value of
current.
Advantages of thermoelectric Instrument
The following are the advantages of thermoelectric Instrument.
1. It directly indicates the RMS value of voltage and current
on the waveform.
2. Such type of instrument is free from the stray magnetic
field.
3. The thermic electric element is used for a wide range of
current measurement.
4. The instrument has a high sensitivity.
5. It is useful for the calibration of the potentiometer with the
help of the standard cell.
6. The thermic element is free from the frequency error and hence used for the widest range of
frequency.
Disadvantages of thermoelectric Instrument
The only disadvantage of the thermoelectric instrument is that their overload capacity is less as
compared to the other element.
Q3(a). Explain the Principle of basic PMMC Movement with the help of Diagram
Deflection Instrument Fundamentals
A deflection instrument uses a pointer that moves over a calibrated scale to indicate a
measured quantity. For this to occur, three forces are operating in the electromechanical
mechanism (or movement) inside the instrument: (i) a deflecting force (ii) a controlling force
(iii) a damping force.
The deflecting force causes the pointer to move from its zero position when a current flows. In
the PMMC instrument this force is magnetic. When a current flows in a light-weight moving
coil pivoted between the poles of a permanent magnet (as shown in Figure-1), the current sets
up a magnetic field that interacts with the field of the permanent magnet. Consequently, a
force is exerted on the coil turns, causing the coil to rotate on its pivots. The pointer is fixed to
the coil, so it moves over the scale as the coil

rotates.

Fig. 1: The deflecting force in a PMMC instrument is provided by a current-carrying coil

pivoted in a magnetic field.
The controlling force in the PMMC instrument is provided by spiral springs (as shown in
Figure-2). The springs retain the coil and pointer at their zero position when no current is
flowing. When current flows, the springs ―wind up‖ as the coil rotates and the force they exert
on the coil increases. The coil and the pointer stop rotating when the controlling force equals
the deflecting force.

Fig. 2: The controlling force from the springs balances the deflecting force.
Note: The spring material must be non-magnetic to avoid any magnetic field influence on
the controlling force. Since the springs are also used to make electrical connection to the coil,
they must have low resistance. Phosphor bronze is the material usually employed.
As shown in Figure-3, the pointer and coil tend to oscillate for sometime before settling down at
their final position. A damping force is required to minimize (or damp out) the oscillations.
 Fig. 3: Lack of damping causes the pointer to oscillate.
The damping force must be present only when the coil is in motion; thus, it must be
generated by the rotation of the coil. In PMMC instruments, the damping force is
normally provided by eddy currents. The coil former (or frame) is constructed of
aluminum, a non-magnetic conductor. Eddy currents induced in the coil former set up
a magnetic flux that opposes the coil motion, thus damping the oscillations of the coil
(see Figure-4).

Fig. 4: The damping force in a PMMC instrument is provided by eddy currents induced in
the aluminum coil former as it moves through the
magnetic field.
PMMC Construction
Details of the construction of a PMMC instrument or D‘Arsonval instrument are illustrated
in Figure-5.
 The main feature is a permanent magnet with two soft-iron pole shoes. A cylindrical
soft-iron core is positioned between the shoes so that only very narrow air gaps exist
between the core and the faces of the pole shoes. The light-weight moving coil is
pivoted to move within these narrow air gaps. The air gaps are made as narrow as
 possible in order to have the strongest possible level of magnetic flux crossing the
gap.
 Figure-5, also shows one of the two controlling spiral springs. One end of this spring
is fastened to the pivoted coil and the other end is
connected to an adjustable zero-position control.
By means of a screw on the instrument cover, the
zero- position control can be adjusted to move
the end of the spring. This allows the coil and the
pointer position to be adjusted (when no coil
current is flowing) so that the pointer indicates
exactly zero on the instrument scale.
 Another detail is one of (usually) two or three
counter weights attached to the pointer. It is a
simple machine screw along which a small
screw-threaded weight can be adjusted. They
provide correct mechanical balance of the
moving system so that there is no gravitational
effect on the accuracy of the instrument.
F
Fig. 5: A typical PMMC instrument is
constructed using a horse-shoe magnet,
soft-iron pole shoes, a soft-iron core and a
suspended coil that moves in the air gap
between the core and the pole shoes.
Q3(b). An integrator contains a 100kΩ resistor and 1μF capacitor. If the voltage applied to
the integrator input is 1v, what will be the voltage present at the output after 1s.

Q3(c). A 1 mA meter movement with an internal resistance of 100Ω is to be converted in to

a 0-100 mA Ammeter. Calculate the value of shunt resistance required.
Solution: Im=1mA, Rm=100Ω

Q4(a). Explain true RMS Voltmeter with the help of diagram and also give its advantage.
True RMS Voltmeter:
True RMS Voltmeter – Complex waveform are most accurately measured with an rms
voltmeter. This instrument produces a meter indication by sensing waveform heating power,
which is proportional to the square of the rms value of the voltage. This heating power can
be measured by amplifying and feeding it to a thermocouple, whose output voltages is then
proportional to the Erms. However, thermocouples are non-linear devices. This difficulty can
be overcome in some instruments by placing two thermocouples in the same thermal
environment. Figure 4.25 shows a block diagram of a true rms responding voltmeter.
The effect of non-linear behaviour of the
thermocouple in the input circuit (measuring
thermocouple) is cancelled by similar non-
linear effects of the thermocouple in the
feedback circuit (balancing thermocouple). The
two couples form part of a bridge in the input
circuit of a dc amplifier. The unknown ac
voltage is amplified and applied to the heating
element of the measuring thermocouple. The application of heat produces an output voltage
that upsets the balance of the bridge. The dc amplifier amplifies the unbalanced voltage; this
voltage is fed back to the heating element of the balancing thermocouple, which heats the
thermocouple, so that the bridge is balanced again, i.e. the outputs of both the
thermocouples are the same. At this instant, the ac current in the input thermo-couple is
equal to the dc current in the heating element of the feedback thermo-couple. This dc
current is therefore directly proportional to the effective or rms value of the input voltage,
and is indicated by the meter in the output circuit of the dc amplifier. If the peak amplitude
of the ac signal does not exceed the dynamic range of the ac amplifier, the true rms value of
the ac signal can be measured independently.
True RMS Meter
There exists a fundamental difference between the readings on a normal ac meter and on a
true rms meter. The first uses a D‘ Arsonval movement with a full or half wave rectifier,
and averages the values of the instantaneous rectified current. The rms meter, however,
averages the squares of the instantaneous current values (proportional, for example, to the
instantaneous heating effect). The scale of the true rms meter is calibrated in terms of the
square roots of the indicated current values. The resulting reading is therefore the square
root of the average of the squared instantaneous input values, which is the rms value of the
measured alternating current. A true rms meter is always a combination of a normal mean
value indicating meter and a squaring device whose output at any instant is proportional to
the instantaneous squared input.
Q4(b). Discuss the working of digital pH meter with diagram.
A pH meter is an instrument used to measure acidity or alkalinity of a solution - also know
as pH. pH is the unit of measure that describes the degree of acidity or alkalinity. It is
measured on a scale of 0 to 14.
Q4(c ). Explain the working of digital multimeter.
Digital Multimeters – Analog meters require no power supply, they give a better visual
indication of changes and suffer less from electric noise and isolation problems. These
meters are simple and inexpensive. Digital meters, on the other hand, offer high accuracy,
have a high input impedance and are smaller in size. They gives an unambigious reading at
greater viewing distances. The output available is electrical (for interfacing with external
equipment), in addition to a visual readout. The
three major classes of digital meters are panel
meters, bench type meters and system meters. All
digital meters employ some kind of analog to
digital (A/D) converters (often dual slope
integrating type) and have a visible readout
display at the converter output. Panel meters are
usually placed at one location (and perhaps even a
fixed range), while bench meters and system
meters are often multimeters, i.e. they can read ac and dc voltage currents and resistances
over several ranges. The basic circuit shown in Fig. 6.2 (a) is always a dc voltmeter. Current
is converted to voltage by passing it through a precision low shunt resistance while
alternating current is converted into dc by employing rectifiers and filters. For resistance
measurement, the meter includes a precision low current source that is applied across the
unknown resistance; again this gives a dc voltage which is digitised and readout as ohms.
Bench meters are intended mainly for stand alone
operation and visual op-eration reading, while
system meters provide at least an electrical binary
coded decimal output (in parallel with the usual
display), and perhaps sophisticated interconnection
and control capabilities, or even microprocessor
based computing power. A basic Digital
Multimeters (DMM) is made up of several A/D
converters, circuitry for counting and an attenuation
circuit. A basic block diagram of a DMM is shown
in Fig. 6.2 (b). The current to voltage converter
shown in the block diagram of Fig. 6.2 (b) can be
implemented with the circuit shown in Fig. 6.2 (c).
The current to be measured is applied to the summing junction (Σi) at the input of the
opamp. Since the current at the input of the
amplifier is close to zero because of the very
high input impedance of the amplifier, the
current IR is very nearly equal to Ii, the current
IR causes a voltage drop which is proportional
to the current, to be developed across the
resistors. This voltage drop is the input to the
A/D converter, thereby providing a reading that
is proportional to the unknown current. Resistance is measured by passing a known current,
from a constant current source, through an unknown resistance. The voltage drop across the
resistor is applied to the A/D converter, thereby producing an indication of the value of the
unknown resistance.