Actually invented by Samuel Hunter Christie in 1833, this resistance

measuring bridge was later named after British physicist Sir Charles
Wheatstone who was instrumental in the bridge's proliferation.

Wheatstone measuring bridge

This bridge has a simple design comprising a parallel connection of two

resistive voltage dividers R1/R2 and R3/R4. The DC voltage fed into the
circuit is divided across the resistors. The diagonal between points A and
B is the actual bridge. When the resistances are equal, points A and B are
at the same potential, and no current flows between them. In the presence
of a potential difference between these points, a current flows from A to B
or in the opposite direction. Of course, the bridge can also be fed with an
alternating voltage. As the frequency rises, the inductive and capacitive
components of the measured resistor play a greater role. The Wheatstone
bridge cannot detect these components.

Balancing condition

Wheatstone bridge's balancing condition

The circuit is balanced when the condition specified above is met. If one of
the four resistors is altered, the bridge becomes unbalanced. As a result, a
voltage arises between measuring points A and B, so that an equalization
current flows between them.

Applications

Because the Wheatstone bridge is very sensitive, it is able to measure

resistances extremely accurately. If one of the resistors is replaced with a
semiconductor component capable of reacting to light, temperature or
voltage changes, these can these changes be registered and evaluated
with the bridge.

If R3 is the unknown resistance to be measured, then according to the

balancing condition:

R3 = R1 * R4 / R2.

In other words, if resistances R1, R2 and R4 are known, R3 can be

calculated very easily