Measurement Systems Notes

Electronics
A Systems Approach
6th edition
Chapter 2
Measurement of voltages
and currents
Copyright © 2018, 2014, 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Measurement of voltages and
currents
• Introduction
• Sine waves
• Square waves
• Measuring voltages and currents
• Analogue ammeters and voltmeters
• Digital multimeters
• Oscilloscopes
Introduction
• Alternating currents and voltages vary with time and

periodically change their direction
Sine waves (1 of 14)
Video 2A
• Sine waves
– by far the most important form of alternating quantity
 important properties are shown below
• Instantaneous value
– shape of the sine wave is defined by the sine function
y = A sin θ
– in a voltage waveform
v = Vp sin θ
• Angular frequency
– frequency f (in hertz) is a measure of the number of
cycles per second
– each cycle consists of 2π radians
– therefore there will be 2πf radians per second
– this is the angular frequency ω (units are rad/s)
ω = 2πf
• Equation of a sine wave

– the angular frequency ω can be thought of as the rate
at which the angle of the sine wave changes
– at any time
θ = ωt
– therefore
v = Vp sin ωt or v = Vp sin 2πft
– similarly
i = Ip sin ωt or i = Ip sin 2πft
• Example – see Example 2.2 in the course text

Determine the equation of the following voltage
signal From diagram:
• Period is 50 ms = 0.05 s
• Thus f = 1/T =1/0.05 = 20 Hz
• Peak voltage is 10 V
• Therefore
v = Vp sin 2πft
= 10 sin 2π 20t
= 10 sin 126t
• Phase angles
– the expressions given above assume the angle of the
sine wave is zero at t = 0
– if this is not the case the expression is modified by
adding the angle at t = 0
• Phase differences
– two waveforms of the same frequency may have a
constant phase difference
 we say that one is phase-shifted with respect to the
other
• Average value of a sine wave

– average value over one (or more) cycles is clearly zero
– however, it is often useful to know the average
magnitude of the waveform independent of its polarity
 we can think of this as 1 π
the average value over Vav = ∫0Vp sinθ dθ
π
half a cycle… Vp
 … or as the average value = [− cosθ ]π0
π
of the rectified signal
2Vp
= = 0.637 × Vp
π
• Average value of a sine wave (Continued)
• r.m.s. value of a sine wave

– the instantaneous power (p) in a resistor is given by
v2
p =
R
– therefore the average power is given by
[ average (or mean) of v 2 ] v2

Pav = =
R R
2
– where v is the mean-square voltage
• While the mean-square voltage is useful, more often

we use the square root of this quantity, namely the
root-mean-square voltage Vrms
– where Vrms = v 2
– we can also define Irms =
i2
– it is relatively easy to show that (see text for analysis)
Vrms = 1 × V = 0.707 × Vp I rms = 1 × I = 0.707 × I p

2 p 2 p
• r.m.s. values are useful because their relationship to

average power is similar to the corresponding DC
values
P =V I
av rms rms
2
V
P = rms
av R
2
P =I R
av rms
• Form factor
– for any waveform the form factor is defined as
Form factor = r.m.s. value

average value
– for a sine wave this gives

0.707 V
p
Form factor = = 1.11
0.637 V
p
• Peak factor
– for any waveform the peak factor is defined as
peak value
Peak factor =
r.m.s. value
– for a sine wave this gives
V
p
Peak factor = = 1.414
0.707 V
p
Square waves (1 of 4)
• Frequency, period, peak value and peak-to-peak

value have the same meaning for all repetitive
waveforms
• Phase angle
– we can divide the period
into 360° or 2π radians
– useful in defining phase
relationship between
signals
– in the waveforms shown
here, B lags A by 90°
– we could alternatively give
the time delay of one with
respect to the other
• Average and r.m.s. values

– the average value of a symmetrical waveform is its
average value over the positive half-cycle
– thus the average value of a symmetrical square wave
is equal to its peak value
V =V
av p
– similarly, since the instantaneous value of a square
wave is either its peak positive or peak negative value,
the square of this is the peak value squared, and
V =V
rms p
• Form factor and peak factor

– from the earlier definitions, for a square wave
V
p
Form factor = r.m.s. value = = 1 .0
average value V
p
V
peak value p
Peak factor = = = 1 .0
r.m.s. value V
p
Measuring voltages and currents
(1 of 3) Video 2B
• Measuring voltage and current in a circuit

– when measuring voltage we connect across the component
– when measuring current we connect in series with the
component
(2 of 3)
• Loading effects – voltage
measurement
– our measuring instrument will
have an effective resistance (RM)
– when measuring voltage we
connect a resistance in parallel
with the component concerned
which changes the resistance in
the circuit and therefore changes
the voltage we are trying to
measure
– this effect is known as loading
(3 of 3)
• Loading effects – current
measurement
– our measuring instrument will
have an effective resistance (RM)
– when measuring current we connect a
resistance in series with the component
concerned which again changes the
resistance in the circuit and therefore
changes the current we are trying to
measure
– this is again a loading effect
Analogue ammeters and voltmeters
(1 of 6)
• Most modern analogue
ammeters are based on
moving-coil meters
– see Chapter 13 of textbook
• Meters are characterised by their full-scale deflection

(f.s.d.) and their effective resistance (RM)
– typical meters produce a f.s.d. for a current of 50 µA – 1 mA
– typical meters have an RM between a few ohms and a few
kilohms
(2 of 6)
• Measuring direct
currents using a
moving coil meter
– use a shunt resistor
to adjust sensitivity
– see Example 2.5 in
the set text for
numerical
calculations
(3 of 6)
• Measuring direct
voltages using a
moving coil meter
– use a series resistor
to adjust sensitivity
– see Example 2.6 in
the set text for
numerical
calculations
(4 of 6)
• Measuring alternating quantities
– moving coil meters respond to both positive and
negative voltages, each producing deflections in
opposite directions
– a symmetrical alternating waveform will produce
zero deflection (the mean value of the waveform)
– therefore we use a rectifier to produce a
unidirectional signal
– meter then displays the average value of the
waveform
(5 of 6)
– meters are often calibrated to directly display
r.m.s. of sine waves
 all readings are multiplied by 1.11 – the form factor
for a sine wave
– as a result waveforms of other forms will give
incorrect readings
 for example, when measuring a square wave (for
which the form factor is 1.0, the meter will read 11%
too high)
(6 of 6)
• Analogue multimeters
– general purpose instruments use
a combination of switches and
resistors to give a number of
voltage and current ranges
– a rectifier allows the
measurement of
AC voltage and currents
– additional circuitry permits
resistance measurement
– very versatile but relatively low
input resistance on voltage
ranges produces considerable
loading in some situations
A typical analogue multimeter
Digital multimeters (1 of 2)
• Digital multimeters (DMMs) are often (inaccurately)

referred to as digital voltmeters or DVMs
– at their heart is an analogue-to-digital converter (ADC)
Digital multimeters (2 of 2)
• Measurement of voltage, current and
resistance is achieved using appropriate
circuits to produce a voltage proportional
to the quantity to be measured
– in simple DMMs alternating signals are
rectified as in analogue multimeters to
give its average value which is multiplied
by 1.11 to directly display the r.m.s. value
of sine waves
– more sophisticated devices use a true
r.m.s. Converter, which accurately
produced a voltage proportional to the
r.m.s. value of an input waveform
Oscilloscopes (1 of 2)
• An oscilloscope displays voltage waveforms
Oscilloscopes (2 of 2)
• A typical analogue oscilloscope
Digital oscilloscope (1 of 3)
• Digital oscilloscopes use an analogue-to-digital

converter (ADC) and appropriate processing
• A typical digital oscilloscope
• Measurement of phase difference
Further study
Video 2C
• The Further Study section at the

end of Chapter 2 looks at the
measurement of different forms
of alternating waveform
• Have a look at the problem and
then watch the video to see how
you did
Key points
• The magnitude of an alternating waveform can be

described by its peak, peak-to-peak, average or r.m.s.
value
• The root-mean-square value of a waveform is the value
that will produce the same power as an equivalent direct
quantity
• Simple analogue ammeter and voltmeters are based on
moving coil meters
• Digital multimeters are easy to use and offer high
accuracy
• Oscilloscopes display the waveform of a signal and allow
quantities such as phase to be measured

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Electronics

• Alternating currents and voltages vary with time and

• Equation of a sine wave

• Example – see Example 2.2 in the course text

• Average value of a sine wave

• Average value of a sine wave (Continued)

• r.m.s. value of a sine wave

[ average (or mean) of v 2 ] v2

• While the mean-square voltage is useful, more often

Vrms = 1 × V = 0.707 × Vp I rms = 1 × I = 0.707 × I p

• r.m.s. values are useful because their relationship to

Form factor = r.m.s. value

– for a sine wave this gives

– for a sine wave this gives

• Frequency, period, peak value and peak-to-peak

• Average and r.m.s. values

• Form factor and peak factor

• Measuring voltage and current in a circuit

• Meters are characterised by their full-scale deflection

• Digital multimeters (DMMs) are often (inaccurately)

• An oscilloscope displays voltage waveforms

• A typical analogue oscilloscope

• Digital oscilloscopes use an analogue-to-digital

• A typical digital oscilloscope

• Measurement of phase difference

• The Further Study section at the

• The magnitude of an alternating waveform can be

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