An ohmmeter is an electrical instrument that measures electrical resistance (the opposition offered

by a circuit or component to the flow of electric current). Multimeters also function as ohmmeters
when in resistance-measuring mode. An ohmmeter applies current to the circuit or component
whose resistance is to be measured. It then measures the resulting voltage and calculates the

resistance using Ohm’s law .

An ohmmeter should not be connected to a circuit or component that is carrying a current or is
connected to a power source. Power should be disconnected before connecting the ohmmeter.
Ohmmeters can be either connected in series or parallel based on requirements (whether resistance
being measured is part of circuit or is a shunt resistance.)
Micro-ohmmeters (microhmmeter or micro ohmmeter) make measurements of low resistance.
Megohmmeters (also a trademarked device Megger) measure large values of resistance. The unit of
measurement for resistance is the ohm (Ω).

Design evolution[edit]
The first ohmmeters were based on a type of meter movement known as a 'ratiometer'.[1][2] These
were similar to the galvanometer type movement encountered in later instruments, but instead of
hairsprings to supply a restoring force they used conducting 'ligaments'. These provided no net
rotational force to the movement. Also, the movement was wound with two coils. One was
connected via a series resistor to the battery supply. The second was connected to the same battery
supply via a second resistor and the resistor under test. The indication on the meter was proportional
to the ratio of the currents through the two coils. This ratio was determined by the magnitude of the
resistor under test. The advantages of this arrangement were twofold. First, the indication of the
resistance was completely independent of the battery voltage (as long as it actually produced some
voltage) and no zero adjustment was required. Second, although the resistance scale was non
linear, the scale remained correct over the full deflection range. By interchanging the two coils a
second range was provided. This scale was reversed compared to the first. A feature of this type of
instrument was that it would continue to indicate a random resistance value once the test leads were
disconnected (the action of which disconnected the battery from the movement). Ohmmeters of this
type only ever measured resistance as they could not easily be incorporated into
a multimeter design. Insulation testers that relied on a hand cranked generator operated on the
same principle. This ensured that the indication was wholly independent of the voltage actually
produced.
Subsequent designs of ohmmeter provided a small battery to apply a voltage to a resistance via a
galvanometer to measure the current through the resistance (battery, galvanometer and resistance
all connected in series). The scale of the galvanometer was marked in ohms, because the fixed
voltage from the battery assured that as resistance is increased, the current through the meter (and
hence deflection) would decrease. Ohmmeters form circuits by themselves, therefore they cannot be
used within an assembled circuit. This design is much simpler and cheaper than the former design,
and was simple to integrate into a multimeter design and consequently was by far the most common
form of analogue ohmmeter. This type of ohmmeter suffers from two inherent disadvantages. First,
the meter needs to be zeroed by shorting the measurement points together and performing an
adjustment for zero ohms indication prior to each measurement. This is because as the battery
voltage decreases with age, the series resistance in the meter needs to be reduced to maintain the
zero indication at full deflection. Second, and consequent on the first, the actual deflection for any
given resistor under test changes as the internal resistance is altered. It remains correct at the
centre of the scale only, which is why such ohmmeter designs always quote the accuracy "at centre
scale only".
A more accurate type of ohmmeter has an electronic circuit that passes a constant current (I)
through the resistance, and another circuit that measures the voltage (V) across the resistance.
These measurements are then digitized with an analog digital converter (adc) after which
a microcontroller or microprocessor make the division of the current and voltage according to Ohm's
law and then decode these to a display to offer the user a reading of the resistance value they're
measuring at that instant. Since these type of meters already measure current, voltage and
resistance all at once, these type of circuits are often used in digital multimeters.