AC BRIDGES

Art Ian G. Bautista, ECE, ECT

AC Bridge

 used to measure inductance and capacitances

 all are based on the Wheatstone Bridge
Other Applications:

 Phase-shift circuit
 Filters for oscillators’ and amplifiers’ feedback
 Frequency meter
Null Condition
 balanced condition

 zero current on the bridge, no voltage difference

across the bridge

2 Conditions of a Balanced Bridge:
Example

The impedance of the circuit shown are listed below.

Solve for impedance of the unknown arm.
Example

Refer to the balanced circuit shown, solve for the

unknown impedance.
AC Bridge Circuits

 Similar-angle Bridge
 Opposite-angle Bridge
 Maxwell Bridge
 Wien Bridge
 Radio-Frequency Bridge
 Schering Bridge
Similar-angle Bridge
• a.k.a Capacitance Comparison Bridge
• used to measure the impedance of a capacitive
circuit
Similar-angle Bridge
Example

A similar-angle bridge is used to measure a capacitive

impedance at a frequency of 2kHz. Find the
equivalent-series circuit of the unknown impedance.
Opposite-angle Bridge
• a.k.a. Hay Bridge
• used for measuring the resistance and inductance of
coils
 Opposite-angle Bridge

 capable of measuring coils having a high Q

(Q > 10)

Q is the ratio of
reactance
to resistance

𝑋𝐿
𝑄=
𝑅
Example

 Find the series equivalent inductance and

resistance of the network that causes an opposite-
angle bridge to null with the following component
values:
Maxwell Bridge
• a.k.a. Maxwell-Wein Bridge
• used to determine inductance with capacitance
standards
Maxwell Bridge
Formulas for the unknown values:
Wein Bridge
• used to determine impedance of series- or parallel-
connected components
Wein Bridge

 extensively used as feedback circuit on Wein

Bridge Oscillators
Radio-Frequency Bridge
• used to determine impedance of both capacitive
and inductive circuits operating at higher
frequencies
RF Bridge
Review Questions