EE 243:

Measurements
and
instrumentation for Non-majors

1
 Course Contents

1. Introduction
➢ Electromechanical instruments
DC ammeters and voltmeters
AC ammeters and voltmeters
➢ Electrodynamometers in power measurements
Bridge DC measurements (can be used to measure R)
Bridge AC measurements (L, C, frequency)

2
 Electromechanical Instruments

• Electrically operated mechanical instruments can

be called electromechanical instruments

• The measured quantity produces effect which

cause mechanical displacement in the moving
system of the instrument

3
 Electromechanical Instruments

• Analogue instruments utilize magnetic field and

these include moving coil instruments, moving
iron instruments and electrodynamic instruments

• The working principle of permanent magnet

moving coil meter is based on d'Arsonval
movement because it was first developed by the
Frenchman d'Arsonval in making electrical
measurements.

4
 D’Arsonval Galvanometer

Moving coil Suspension

N S L

Suspension Iron core(stationary)

d

L is length, d is width 5
 D’Arsonval Galvanometer (cont).

• Let: N is the number of turns of coil,

ꞵ is the magnetic flux density,
I is the current through the moving coil,
k is the spring constant ;
θf is the final deflection of moving coil

• Force on each side of coil= NꞵILsin(x)

6
 D’Arsonval Galvanometer (cont).

• Where x is the angle between the direction of

magnetic field and the conductor. The field is
radial and therefore x=90o

• Hence force on each side of conductor is NꞵIL

• Deflecting torque Td= NꞵIld

• Controlling torque is Tc=kθf

7
Permanent Magnet Moving Coil(PMMC)

8
 Permanent Magnet Moving Coil(PMMC)

• Rotation is caused by interaction between the

induced field and the field produced by the
permanent magnet

• If the angle through which coil rotates is θ the

current I is given by I =kθ/ꞵAN

• Where: ꞵ is the magnetic flux density,

A is the area of coil,
N is the number of turns of coil,
k is the spring constant

9
 Permanent Magnet Moving Coil(PMMC)

• Direction of deflection of a moving coil

instrument depends on the direction of current,
and therefore unmodified PMMCs are used for
D.C. measurement

• For A.C. measurement, the modified moving coil

instruments are calibrated to indicate the r.m.s.
value of the wave.

10
 Example

A permanent magnet moving coil instrument has

coil of dimensions 15 mm by 12 mm. The flux
density in the air gap is 1.8 x 10-3 Wb/m2 and the
spring constant is 0.14 x 10-6Nm/rad. Determine
the number of turns required to produce an angular
deflection of 90o when a current of 5 mA is flowing
through the coil.

11
 Example

Solution:
θ=∏/2 rad
At equilibrium I ꞵAN =kθ
N =kθ/I ꞵA
=(0.14 x10-6 x ∏/2)/(1.8x10-3x15x10-3x12x10-
3x5x10-3)

Number of turns =136

12
 Measuring current, voltage, and resistance

Ammeter:
• measures current (A) A
• connected in series I
(current must go through instrument)

Voltmeter: V
• measures potential difference (V)
• connected in parallel a b

Ohmmeter:

• measures resistance of an isolated
resistor (not in a working circuit)
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 Measuring current

Ammeter: I
A

14
 Effect of ammeter on circuit

Measuring current in a simple circuit: R

• connect ammeter in series

A
Are we measuring the correct current?
(the current in the circuit without ammeter)
V

15
 Effect of ammeter on circuit

Measuring current in a simple circuit: R

• connect ammeter in series

r
Are we measuring the correct current?
(the current in the circuit without ammeter)
V
• any ammeter has some resistance r.
V
• current in presence of ammeter is I = .
R +r
V
• current without the ammeter would be I = .
R
To minimize error, ammeter resistance r must be very small.
(ideal ammeter would have zero resistance) 16
Example: an ammeter of resistance 10 m is used to measure
the current through a 10  resistor in series with a 3 V battery
that has an internal resistance of 0.5 . What is the relative
(percent) error caused by the ammeter?

R=10 
Actual current without ammeter:

V
I=
R +r r=0.5 

3
I= A V=3 V
10 +0.5
You might see the symbol 
used instead of V.

I = 0.2857 A = 285.7 mA

17
Current with ammeter:
V
I=
R +r +R A

3
I= A R=10 
10 +0.5+0.01

I = 0.2854 A = 285.4 mA RA
r=0.5 
0.2857 - 0.2854
% Error = 100 V=3 V
0.2857

% Error = 0.1 %
18
 Classification or Types of Ammeter

Depending on the constructing principle:

• Permanent Magnet Moving Coil (PMMC) ammeter

• Moving Iron (MI) ammeter
• Electrodynamometer type ammeter
• Rectifier type ammeter
Depending on types of measurement we do:

• DC Ammeter
• AC Ammeter

DC Ammeter are mainly PMMC instruments, MI and Electrodynamometer

type can measure both DC and AC currents
19
 Description of Different Types of Ammeters
PMMC Ammeter:
• When current carrying conductor placed in a magnetic field,
a mechanical force acts on a conductor, if it is attached to a
moving system, with the coil movement, the pointer moves
over the scale.

• It is suited for DC measurement because here deflection is

proportional to the current.

• If current direction is reversed, deflection of the pointer will

also be reversed.

20
 Description of Different Types of Ammeters

Deflecting torque,
𝑇 = 𝐵𝑖𝑁𝑙𝑏 (Nm)
B=Flux density, i=current flowing, l=length of the coil, b=Breadth
of the coil, and N= No of turns in the coil

21
 Description of Different Types of Ammeters
MI Ammeter:
• It is a moving iron instrument, used for both AC and DC.

• It is suited for both DC and AC measurement because the

deflection is proportional square of the current.

• Whatever is the direction of current, it shows directional

deflection.

Deflecting torque,
1 2 𝑑𝑙
𝑇= 𝐼
2 𝑑𝜃

I=current flowing, l=self inductance of the coil, 𝜃 = deflection

22
 Designing an ammeter

Galvanometer:
• current flows through a coil in a magnetic field
• coil experiences a torque, connected needle deflects
(see later chapters of this class)

23
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/magnetic/galvan.html#c1
 Designing an ammeter

• ammeter can be based on galvanometer

(for electronic instrument, use electronic sensor instead, analysis still applies)

• simplest case: send current directly through galvanometer,

observe deflection of needle

Needle deflection is proportional to current.

Each galvanometer has a certain maximum
current corresponding to full needle deflection.

What if you need to measure a larger current?

• use shunt resistor
24
Ammeter uses a galvanometer and a shunt, connected in
parallel: galvanometer
RG
G
IG
A  A B
I RSHUNT
I
ISHUNT
Everything inside the green box is the ammeter.

• Current I gets split into Ishunt and IG

Homework hint:
If your galvanometer reads 1A full scale but you want the
ammeter to read 5A full scale, then RSHUNT must result in
IG=1A when I=5A. What are ISHUNT and VSHUNT? 25
 RG
G
IG
A B
I RSHUNT

ISHUNT

Shunt also reduces resistance of the ammeter:

1 1 1
= +
R A R G R SHUNT

R G R SHUNT
RA =
R G + R SHUNT
26
AExample:
galvanometer-based ammeter uses
what shunt resistance a galvanometer
is required and a to
for an ammeter
shunt,
have aconnected
resistanceinofparallel:
10 m, if the galvanometer resistance is
60 ?

RG
1 1 1 G
= +
R A RG RS IG
I RS
1 1 1
= −
RS R A RG IS

R G R A ( 60 ) (.01)
RS = = = 0.010 
RG - RA 60 -.01 (actually 0.010002 )

To achieve such a small resistance, the shunt is probably a

large-diameter wire or solid piece of metal. 27
 Measuring Voltage

V
Voltmeter:
a b

28
 Effect of voltmeter on circuit

Measuring voltage (potential difference)

V
Vab in a simple circuit:
• connect voltmeter in parallel
R=10 
Are we measuring the correct voltage? a b
(the voltage in the circuit without voltmeter)

r=0.5 

=3 V

29
 Effect of voltmeter on circuit
RV
Measuring voltage (potential difference)
Vab in a simple circuit:
IV
• connect voltmeter in parallel
R=10 
Are we measuring the correct voltage? a b
(the voltage in the circuit without voltmeter)

• voltmeter has some resistance RV r=0.5 

• current IV flows through voltmeter
=3 V
• extra current changes voltage drop across r
and thus Vab

To minimize error, voltmeter resistance r must be very large.

(ideal voltmeter would have infinite resistance) 30
Example: a galvanometer of resistance 60  is used to
measure the voltage drop across a 10 k resistor in series with
an ideal 6 V battery and a 5 k resistor. What is the relative
error caused by the nonzero resistance of the galvanometer?

Actual voltage drop without instrument: R1=10 k

3
a b
R eq = R1 +R 2 =15 10 

V 6V -3 R2=5 k
I= = 3
= 0.4  10 A
R eq 15 10 
V=6 V
Vab = IR = ( 0.4 10 -3
)(10 10  ) = 4 V
3

31
The measurement is made with the galvanometer.

60  and 10 k resistors in parallel are

equivalent to 59.6  resistor. RG=60 
G
Total equivalent resistance: 5059.6 
R1=10 k
Total current: I=1.186x10-3 A a b
Vab = 6V – IR2 = 0.07 V.
R2=5 k
The relative error is:
4 -.07 V=6 V
% Error = 100 = 98% I=1.19 mA
4

Would you pay for this voltmeter?

We need a better instrument! 32
Example: a voltmeter of resistance 100 k is used to measure
the voltage drop across a 10 k resistor in series with an ideal
6 V battery and a 5 k resistor. What is the percent error
caused by the nonzero resistance of the voltmeter?

R1=10 k
We already calculated the actual a b
voltage drop (2 slides back).
R2=5 k
Vab = IR = ( 0.4 10-3 )(10 103  ) = 4 V
V=6 V

33
The measurement is now made with the “better” voltmeter.

100 k and 10 k resistors in RV=100 k

parallel are equivalent to an 9090 
V
resistor.
Total equivalent resistance: 14090 
R1=10 k
Total current: I=4.26x10-4 A a b
The voltage drop from a to b:
6-(4.26x10-4)(5000)=3.87 V. R2=5 k
The percent error is.
V=6 V
4 - 3.87 I=.426 mA
% Error = 100 = 3.25%
4
Not great, but much better. 34
 Classification or Types of Voltmeter

Depending on the constructing principle:

• Permanent Magnet Moving Coil (PMMC) voltmeter

• Moving Iron (MI) voltmeter
• Electrodynamometer type voltmeter
• Rectifier, induction, electrostatic, type voltmeter
• Digital voltmeter (DVM)
Depending on types of measurement we do:

• DC Voltmeter
• AC Voltmeter
DC Voltmeter are mainly PMMC instruments, MI and
Electrodynamometer type can measure both DC and AC voltage
35
 Description of Different Types of Voltmeters
PMMC Voltmeter:

• It is suited for DC measurement because here deflection is

proportional to the voltage.

• If voltage polarity is reversed, deflection of the pointer will

also be reversed.

Deflecting torque,
𝑇 = 𝐵𝑖𝑁𝑙𝑏 (Nm)
B=Flux density, i=V/R where V is the voltage to be measured
and R is resistance of the load, l=length of the coil,
b=Breadth of the coil, and N= No of turns in the coil
36
 Description of Different Types of Voltmeters
MI Voltmeter:
• It is a moving iron instrument, used for both AC and DC.

• It is suited for both DC and AC measurement because the

deflection is proportional square of the voltage.

• Whatever is the direction of current, it shows directional

deflection.

Deflecting torque,
1 2 𝑑𝐿 𝑉
𝑇= 𝐼 , 𝐼=
2 𝑑𝜃 𝑍

I=current flowing, Z=impedance of the load, L=self

inductance of the coil, 𝜃 = deflection 37
 Designing a voltmeter
• voltmeter must have a very large resistance
• voltmeter can be made from galvanometer in series with a
large resistance

RSer RG
a V b  a G b

Vab Vab

Everything inside the blue box is the voltmeter.

Homework hints: “the galvanometer reads 1A full scale” would mean a current of IG=1A would produce
a full-scale deflection of the galvanometer needle.

If you want the voltmeter shown to read 10V full scale, then the selected RSer must result in IG=1A
when Vab=10V. 38