OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS OMEGA

TYPE ETB-n Pup 24

oMEGA TYPE Experimental Training Board has been
ETB-205
hion eneray of a thermistor and to determine the material constant ofdesigned specifically to determine te
the thermistor material, The
t e l self contained and requires no other apparatus. Practical trard s
educative value for Science and Engineering Students. experience
on this board carres
yet
OBJECT

1 To detemine the activation energy of a themistor.

2 To determine the material constant of the thermistor material.
FEATURES
O The board consists of the following built-in parts:
1 1V, 2V and 5V D.C. at 10mA, Power Supply selectable by band switch.
2 Digital Miliammeter, 34 digits having range 2mA D.c
3 Oven, Electrically heated, for the purpose of varying the temperature of the thermistor.
4 Thermistor with leads.
5 Themometer 0-110 °C.
6 Mains ON/OFF switch and Fuse.
7 The unit is operative on 230V 10% at 50Hz A.C. Mains.

THEORY

Thermistors are semiconductor devices. The electrical resistance of the device changes drastically when
its temperature is varied. Thus primarily the devices are thermally sensitive resistors.. Hence they are called
thermistors
Silicon and germanium are not normalily used in making thermistors because larger and more predictable
temperature coefficients are available with semiconductors belonging to the group of metallic oxides. Thus,
thermistor materials are mainly ceramic compounds having semiconductor properties. They are made of oxides
of the elements Mn, Ni, Fe, Co and Cu. The oxides are blended in a suitable proportion and compressed into
desired shapes from powders and heat-treated to recrystallize them. The process yields a dense ceramic body
with the required resistance characteristics. Suitable combinations of the oxides of these elements are used to
obtain the necessary range of electrical resistance. Conduction is controlled by the concentration of oxygen in
the oxide semiconductors. An excess or deficiency of oxygen from exact stoichiometric requirements results in
lattice imperfections known as Schottky defects and Frenkel defects. n-type oxide semiconductors are pro-
duced when the metal oxides are compounded with a deficiency of oxygen that results in excess ionized metal
atoms in the lattice (Frenkel defects). p-type semiconductors are produced when there is an excess of oxygen
that results in a deficiency of ionised metal atoms in the lattice (Schottky defects).
The resistance of conductors increases with increase in temperature. Over a temperature range that is
not too large the resistance of a metal such as copper can be represented by
R Rol1 t a (T - To)l ***'*****'**********'*********
(1)

a characterises the dependence of the variation in resistance of a conductor on its material. In case of
thermistors, it is also called the sensitivity of a thermistor, a is positive for pure metallic elements as their
resistance increases with temperature. Hence they are called positive temperature coefficient (PTC) materials.
On the other hand, a is negative for carbon, electrolytes, and semiconductors Their resistance decreases with
increasing temperature. These materials therefore have a negative temperature coefficient (NTC). The value of a
of all metals is very close to 0.004/°C. The temperature coefficient of thermistor materials is many orders of
magnitude greater than that of metals. In general they are 10 times higher than that of copper.
The temperature resistance characteristics of a thermistor exhibits an exponential type behaviour. It is

given by
R-Ro exp ********************************
(2)

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 OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS OMEGA TYPE ETB-205
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Where Ro is the resistance at the reference temperature To (K)
R is the resistance at the measured
temperature T (K)
B is the experimentally determined constant for the given thermistor
The value of B usually lies between 3000 and 4400
material
depending upon the formulation and grade. It can be
determined as follows
Equation (2) can be rewritten as
R CeT
.........(3)
Taking logarithms on both the sides of eqn. (3), we get
In R =In C+ B/T
or 2.3026 log R 2.3026 log C+B/T

log R= log C*
23026T *********.......

or log R = log C-
2.3026x10 ....(5)
****'°*********

103
A plot of log R versus gives a straight line whose slope is equal to p /2.3026 x 10. By measuring
the slop m of the graph we can determine ß as,
B 2.3026 x 10 m = 2302.6m
is related to the band gap of the material. The band gap is more usually called the activation(
energy
6) in

the case of thermistor materials. From the value of ß obtained from Eq. (6), the activation energy can be
calculated.
Eg 2 k=2 (2302.6) km= 0.396 (m) eV. ****** .
(7)
Using equation (2) we can determine the value of a . Differentiating Eq. (2) with respect to T, we get

AT Ro exp

Rx T2
But RRAT (8)
.a
***

(9)
The temperature-resistance graph for a typical NTC thermistor shown in Fig. 1. It is seen that the
resistance drops exponentially with increase in temperature.

TEMPERATURE (°K)-

FIG. 1

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 OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS OMEGA TYPE ETB-205
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PROCEDURE
1
Connect mains
shown in Fig. 2.
lead to AC mains socket
having 230V +10% at 50Hz. Make the circuit connections as

DPM
2mA
CURRENT METER

IC REGULATED
THERMISTOR POWER SUPPLYY
L33K 1V,2V&6V at 10mA

FIG. 2
2 First let oven supply
be "OFF". Put thermistor and thermometer in
the respective hole and connect the
thermistor lead to the point indicated
"thermistor connection lead" and "ON" the D.C. power
set D.C.
Voltage any of the three voltages say at 1V and take down the reading of current meter.supply and
observation will give thermistor resistance at room This
temperature. V-I curve is shown in Fig. 3

Emox.

CURRENT, 1(mA )
FIG. 3
3 Now "ON" the oven supply. Let the oven be heated
upto 80°. Now "OFF" the oven supply. Take down
current in the circuit at various temperatures in
decreesing order (say at the intervals of 5°C)
4 The sameis steps can be repeated with other two
voltages i.e. 2 and 5V.
5 Tabulate the results as indicated.
OBSERVATIONS
1 Roomtemperature: C Current (): MA
Voltage(V). Volts
Thermistor resistance at room temperature: R=V/l = K ohms
TABLE-I
S. Temp. Current Temp. T 1000/T Resistance Log R
No. t(°C) (mA) T t+273 (K-1) R
(K)
80
2. 75
3. 70

MEGA OMEGA ELECTRONICS,

JAIPUR-302 006 (INDIA)
 OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS OMEGA TYPE ETB-205 Page 5/6
R versus T (°K) graph is plotted taking T on X-axis and R on Y-axis. The plot gives a curve as shown in
Fig. 4

8LOPE AT POINT P
AR
AR
PR,T) AT
AT

aT
TEMPERATURE (°K) -
FIG. 4 VARIATION OF ELECTRICAL
3 The
RESISTANCE WITH TEMPERATURE IN A THERMISTOR
slope of the curve at a selected point is determined.
efficient oa is calculated. Using the slope value, the temperature co-
4 A second plot is drawn between log R and 103T taking 10/T on X-axis and log R Y-axis A
line is obtained as shown in Fig.5.
on
straight

PR
m=OR

x 10
FIG.5 VARIATION OF RESISTANCE WITH INVERSE TEMPERATURE IN
ATHERISTOR
CALCULATIONS
a=ARR
1
R AT
A point P (R,T) is selected on the curve Fig. 4. The value of R for P is read
from the graph. A tangent to
the curve is drawn at point P. The slope of the tangent from the graph of Fig. 4.

AR SQ
************

AT QK

. a-o . .... /C
2 B 2302.6 x slope m (of Fig. 5)
PR
2302.6 x QR

3 Also -

From the graph, Fig. 4 the value of temperature at P is

T------C

- - - -/° C

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Eg 2 Bk
Using k =
8.6x10-5 eVIdeg.
Eg 2 x - - x 8.6 x 10-5 eV -eV
RESULTS
1 The temperature coefficient of the thermistor a from the graph --
-/°C
2 The material constant B from the
graph =

3 The temperature coefficient of the

thermistor a =-
---/°C
The value of activation energy Eg. =
.
...eV
PRECAUTIONS
1 Take different values of I
only when the temperature is constant.
2 The temperature of the thermistor is not allowed
to go beyone 80°C.
REFERENCE
Experiments in Engineering Practical Physics By M.N. AVADHANULU, A.A. DANI and P.M. POKLEY
ACCESSORIES 01 Patch cords 4mm length 50cm Red-
02 Patch cords 4mm length 50cm Black-2
03 Themometer 0-110°C.
GPA01-06-12