ELECTROSTATIC INSTRUMENTS

 In electrostatic instruments, the deflecting torque is

produced by the action of electric field on a charge
conductor.
 Such instrument are essentially voltmeters, but
they may be used with the help of external
components, to measure current and power.
 Their greater use in laboratory for measurement of
high voltages.
There are two way in which forces acts:
1. Attraction disc type electrostatic instrument.
2. Quadrant electrometer.
» Plate A is positively charged and plate B is negatively
charged.
» we have linear motion between the plates.
» The plate A is fixed and plate B is moveable.
» Let us assume there exists some force F between the
two plates at equilibrium when electrostatic force
becomes equal to spring force.
» At this point, the electrostatic energy stored in the
plates is
» Now suppose we increase the applied voltage by an
amount dV, due to this the plate B moves towards the
plate A by a distance dx
» The work done against the spring force due to
displacement of the plate B be Fdx. The applied voltage is
related to current as
» From this value of electric current the input energy can
be calculated as
» From this we can calculate the change in the stored
energy and that comes out to be
» By neglecting the higher order terms that appears in the
expression.
» The quadrant electrometer consists of a cylindrical
metal box divided into quadrants which stands on
insulating pillars.
» Opposite quadrants are connected electrically, and a
light, thin metal vane of large area is suspended by a
conducting torsion fiber inside the quadrants.
» In the space between them is suspended needle
which consists of a light aluminium axis, to which are
affixed a number of paddle-shaped aluminium
blades.
» An instrument that measures electrostatic voltage
without charge transfer is called an electrostatic
voltmeter.
» A primary characteristic of an electrostatic voltmeter is
that it accurately measures voltage on any kind of
material without physical contact & therefore , no
charge transfer.
» Electrostatic voltmeters are based on the principle that
when 2 conductors are at different potentials they
attract one another.
» This mechanical stress may be made the measure of
the potential different between them if one of the
conductors is fixed.
» These instrument may be used on ac or dc.
» They have no frequency and wave form errors as the
deflection is proportional to square of voltage and there
is no hysteresis.
» There are no errors caused by stray magnetic field as the
instrument works on electrostatic principle.
» They are particularly suited for high voltages.
» The use of electrostatic instrument is limited to a certain
special application in a.c. circuits of relatively high
voltages.
» These instruments are expensive, large in size and are
not robust in construction.
» There scale are not uniform.
» The operating force are small. This can be illustrated by
comparing there operating forces in electromagnetic
type instrumets