NAME - HIMANI SAHU

ROLL NO. - 20117033

EXPERIMENT - 6
OBJECTIVE - Measurement of unknown resistance by Wheatstone Bridge.

CIRCUIT DIAGRAM -

THEORY -

The circuit known as a Wheatstone bridge is most commonly used to determine

the value of an unknown resistance to an electrical current. Although first
described by British mathematician and scientist Samuel Hunter Christie in 1833,
the circuit came to bear the name of Sir Charles Wheatstone, the English physicist
who popularized it in the 1840s.
In a typical Wheatstone bridge, four resistors (devices that create resistance to
current in a circuit) are positioned in a circuit designed in such a way that the
current from a battery splits, flows through the sequence of resistors, then
recombines into a single conductor, as shown in the tutorial. Three of these
resistors have known values, one of which is variable, or adjustable. The value of
the fourth resistor is not known. By studying and manipulating the paths the
current can take through the Wheatstone bridge grid, that fourth, unknown
resistance can be identified.

PROCEDURE -

1. The current in this tutorial is shown as flowing from negative to positive

through the circuit, which reflects the actual flow of the electrons. (The
convention is to think of electricity as flowing from positive to negative, but
electrons actually flow in the opposite direction.) When it reaches Point A
in the diagram, it splits and travels through either one of two Known
Resistors, R1 or R2. Resistance is measured in a unit called an ohm. Notice
that when this interactive animation initializes, the resistance at R 1 is 1 K
ohm, while at R2 it is 5 K ohm.
2. After the diverging currents pass through their respective resistors (R 1 or
R2), each reaches another fork in the road. At this point, if the bridge is not
balanced (which is the case when the tutorial opens), some or all of the
current from either the R1 or R2 path will diverge down this middle path
that bisects the square created by the circuit. The Ammeter positioned on
this middle path measures the current flowing through it. The direction of
this current is determined by the value of the Variable Resistor (R 3) and is
reflected in the position of the ammeter needle (to the right or the left of
the zero value).
3. The bridge is not balanced because the ratio of resistance on the known leg
(R1/R2) isn’t equal to the ratio on the unknown leg (R 3/R4). This is where the
variable resistor (known as the rheostat of the bridge) comes into play. It
can be adjusted until no current flows down the middle path. When that is
achieved, the ammeter reads zero and the bridge is balanced. Achieve this
balanced state by adjusting the Variable Resistor slider until the ammeter
 reads zero and no more current flows through the middle path. Notice how
the arrows depicting current direction change as you manipulate the slider.
The ohm value is displayed above the slider.

OBSERVATION -

S. No. R1 R2 R3 R4

( kΩ) (kΩ) (kΩ) (kΩ)

1 5 5 43 43

CALCULATION -

R1/R2 = R3/R4

=> R4 = (R2 * R3)/R1

R4 = (5*43)/5

=> R4 = 43 kΩ

RESULT - The value of unknown resistance is 43 kΩ.