SANMATI HIGHER SECONDARY SCHOOL

PHYSICS INVESTIGATORY PROJECT

SESSION: - 2022-23

TOPIC: - TO STUDY THE MOVING COIL GALVANOMETER

SUBMITTED TO: - SUBMITTED BY:-

SWATI KADAM MAM RAGHUVEER S. SHEKHAWAT
CLASS: - XII ‘B’ (PCM)
 CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that “Raghuveer s. shekhawat” of class
12th ‘B’ (PCM) has successfully completed their physics
investigatory project on “moving coil galvanometer”
under the guidance of “________________”.

Teacher In-charge examiner signature

………………………….. …………………………….
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Apart from the efforts of me, the success of any project
depends largely on the encouragement and guidelines of
many others. I take this opportunity to express my gratitude
to the people who have been instrumental in the successful
completion of this project. I express deep sense of gratitude
to almighty God for giving me strength for the successful
completion of the project. I express my heartfelt gratitude to
my parents for constant encouragement while carrying out
this project. I gratefully acknowledge the contribution of the
individuals who contributed in bringing this project up to this
level, who continues to look after me despite my flaws, I
express my deep sense of gratitude to the luminary The
Principal, Pinki Joshi mam who has been continuously
motivating and extending their helping hand to us . My
sincere thanks to Nishant Agrawal sir, Master In-charge, A
guide, Mentor All the above a friend, who critically reviewed
my project and helped in solving each and every problem,
occurred during implementation of the project. The guidance
and support received from all the members who contributed
and who are contributing to this project, was vital for the
success of the project. I am grateful for their constant
support.
 INDEX
Brief introduction into the different
types of Galvanometers along with brief
description.
General structure of a moving coil
galvanometer.
Conversion of a Galvanometer into an
Ammeter.
Conversion of a Galvanometer into a
Voltmeter.
BRIEF INTRODUCTION INTO THE DIFFERENT TYPES
OF GALVANOMETER ALONG WITH BRIEF
DESCRIPTION:

Tangent Galvanometer:-
It works by using a compass needle to compare the magnetic field generated
by an unknown current to the magnetic field of the Earth. It was used earlier. It
was first given by Claude Pouillet. It contains an insulated copper wire coil on a
non-magnetic circular frame.

Astatic Galvanometer:-
It does not use the Earth’s magnetic field for measuring the current. It was
developed by Leopoldo Nobili. It contains two magnetized needles that run
parallel to each other, suspended by a silk thread, with their magnetic poles
reversed. The lower needle gets deflected by the passing current’s magnetic
field. The second needle cancels out the dipole movement of the first one to
cancel out the effects of Earth’s magnetic field

Mirror Galvanometer:-
It is used to achieve higher sensitivity for detecting extremely small currents. It
contains horizontal magnets which are suspended from a fine fibre inside of
the vertical coil, with an attached mirror to its magnets. A beam of light
reflects from the mirror acts as a long mass-less pointer by falling on a
graduated scale across the room.

Ballistic Galvanometer:-
It is sensitive in mature and used to measure the quantity of charge that is
discharged through it. The moving part of the galvanometer has a large
moment of inertia giving it a long oscillation period. It may be of the moving
coil type or of the moving magnet type.
 MOVING COIL GALVANOMETER
A galvanometer is an electromechanical instrument for
detecting and indicating electric current. A galvanometer
works as an actuator, by producing a rotary deflection (of a
"pointer"), in response to electric current flowing through a
coil in a constant magnetic field. Galvanometers developed
from the observation that the needle of a magnetic compass
is deflected near a wire that has electric current flowing
through it, first described by Hans Oersted in 1820. They
were the first instruments used to detect and measure small
amounts of electric currents. Sensitive galvanometers have
been essential for the development of science and
technology in many fields. Galvanometers also had
widespread use as the visualising part in other kinds of
analog meters, for example in light meters, VU meters, etc.,
where they were used to measure and display the output of
other sensors.

Principle:-
When a current carrying coil is suspended in a uniform
magnetic field it is acted upon by at orque. Under the action
of this torque, the coil rotates and the deflection in the coil in
a moving coil galvanometer is directly proportional to the
current flowing through the coil.
Construction:-
It consists of a rectangular coil of thin insulated copper
wires having a large number of turns. The horse shoe
magnet has cylindrically concave pole-pieces. Due to
this shape, the magnet produces radial magnetic field
so that when coil rotates in any position its plane is
always parallel to the direction of magnetic field. When
current flows through the coil it gets deflected. A soft
iron cylinder is fixed inside the coil such that the coil
can rotate freely between the poles and around the
cylinder. Due to the high permittivity, the soft iron core
increases the strength of the radial magnetic field.
Advantages of a Moving Coil Galvanometer:-
1. The sensitivity of the galvanometer can be increased by
increasing N, B and A while decreasing the value of k.
2. The instrument has a linear scale.
3. Since the instrument uses high value of B, the deflection
is undisturbed by the earth’s magnetic field.
4. As the coil is wound on a nonmagnetic metallic frame,
damping is produced by eddy currents. As a result the
coil quickly assumes the final position.

Conversion of galvanometer into an

ammeter
The galvanometer cannot as such be used as an ammeter to
measure the value of the current in a given circuit. This is for
two reasons: (i) Galvanometer is a very sensitive device, it
gives a full-scale deflection for a current of the order of µA.
(ii) For measuring currents, the galvanometer has to be
connected in series, and as it has a large resistance, this will
change the value of the current in the circuit. To overcome
these difficulties, one attaches a small resistance S, called
shunt resistance, in parallel with the galvanometer coil; so
that most of the current passes through the shunt. The value
of shunt resistance depends on the fraction of the total
current required to be passed through the galvanometer. Let
Ig be the maximum current that can be passed through the
galvanometer. The current Ig will give full scale deflection in
the galvanometer.
Galvanometer Resistance = G
Shunt Resistance = S
Current in the circuit = I
So, current through the shunt resistance,

Is = I - Ig
Since the galvanometer and the shunt resistance are
connected in parallel, the potential difference across both of
them is same.
So,

Ig.G = (I - Ig).S
and,

S = G. (Ig/I-Ig)
The shunt resistance is very small because Ig is only a fraction
of I.
The effective resistance of the ammeter Ra is (G in parallel
with S):-

Ra = G.S/G+S
Ra is very low and this explains why an ammeter should be
connected in series. When connected in series, the ammeter
does not appreciably change the resistance and current in
the circuit. Hence an ideal ammeter is one which has zero
resistance.
CONVERSION OF GALVANOMETER
INTO A VOLTMETER:

Voltmeter is an instrument used to measure potential

difference between the two ends of a current carrying
conductor. A galvanometer can be converted into a
voltmeter by connecting a high resistance in series with it.
The scale is calibrated in volt. The value of the resistance
connected in series decides the range of the voltmeter
.Galvanometer Resistance = G The current required to
produce full scale deflection in the galvanometer = Ig
Range of Voltmeter = V
Resistance to be connected in series = R

Since R is connected in series with the galvanometer, the

current through the galvanometer,
SO,

Ig = V/R+G
And,

R = V/ig- G
From the equation the resistance to be connected in series
with the galvanometer Is calculated. The effective resistance
of the voltmeter is:-

Rv = R + G
Rv is very large, and hence a voltmeter is connected in
parallel in a circuit as it draws the least current from the
circuit. In other words, the resistance of the voltmeter should
be very large compared to the resistance across which the
voltmeter is connected to measure the potential difference.
Otherwise, the voltmeter will draw a large current from the
circuit and hence the current through the remaining part of
the circuit decreases. In such a case the potential difference
measured by the voltmeter is very much less than the actual
potential difference. The error is eliminated only when the
voltmeter has a high resistance. An ideal voltmeter is one
which has infinite resistance.
 BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. WWW.ACADEMIA.COM
2. WWW.SCRIBD.COM