Thermistors

Thermistors
THERMal resISTORS
A thermistor is a type of resistor used to measure
temperature changes, relying on the change in its
resistance with changing temperature. Thermistor is a
combination of the words thermal and resistor. The
Thermistor was invented by Samuel Ruben in 1930, and
has U.S. Patent #2,021,491.

Leads, coated Glass encased Surface mount

 Principle of thermistors
Assume a simple linear relationship between resistance
and temperature for the following discussion:

ΔR = k ΔT

where

ΔR = change in resistance
ΔT = change in temperature
k = first-order temperature coefficient of resistance
 Classification of Thermistors
Thermistors can be classified into two types depending
on the sign of k.

If k is positive, the resistance increases with increasing

temperature, and the device is called a positive
temperature coefficient (PTC) thermistor, Posistor.

If k is negative, the resistance decreases with increasing

temperature, and the device is called a negative
temperature coefficient (NTC) thermistor.
 What is the difference between
resistors and thermistors?

Resistors that are not thermistors are

designed to have the smallest possible k,
so that their resistance remains almost
constant over a wide temperature range.
Negative temperature coefficient
Thermistors
 Thermistor characteristics
The thermistor exhibits a highly non-
linear characteristic of resistance vs
temperature.
Typical Thermistor output

Thus, very sensitivity are exhibited by thermistors

Mathematical Formulation
Mathematical formulation
 Applications of Thermistors
1.Temperature measurement. (NTC thermometers can be
used to measure temperature upto 10K)
2.Time delay (self heating from large current ‘opens’ the
thermistor so it can be used as a slow switch). Heat
energy = i2 Rt, where R is the resistance and i is the
current.
3.Surge suppression when a circuit is first energized.
Current needs to flow through the thermistor for awhile to
heat it so that it ‘opens’, and acts again as a switch.