Introduction

Objectives

 Understand and construct the balanced Wheatstone bridge circuit.

 Determine the relationship between the resistors in a Wheatstone bridge circuit.
 Understand the properties of the balanced Wheatstone bridge circuit.

Theory

The Wheatstone bridge is a specific circuit design, which has interesting properties that are
utilised in many applications. A bridge circuit is shown in Fig. 1, it is called a bridge circuit
because of the branch that is located in the middle (branch CD in Fig. 1), which connects the
two opposing junction, like a bridge.
The Wheatstone bridge is said to be balanced only when
R1 R2
= (1)
R3 R4
When the Wheatstone bridge is balanced the current through the resistor in the bridge or
through the branch CD in Fig. 1, is equal to zero, and the voltage across it is also zero. This
interesting property has been taken advantage of in many applications.
The Wheatstone bridge, is named after the scientist Sir Charles Wheatstone, who originally
used the circuit in the mid nineteenth to measure resistances. It is still used to measure
resistance very precisely.

Equipment

 Digital Multimeter.
 AC/DC power supply with integral function generator.
 Universal panel.
 Resistor, 330 Ω, 2 W.
 Resistor, 470 Ω, 2 W.
 2 Resistors, 1 kΩ, 2 W.
 Resistor, 2.3 kΩ, 2 W.
 Resistor, 4.7 kΩ, 2 W.
 Potentiometer, 1 kΩ, 0.5 W, lin.
 Single pole switch.
 Set of connection cables
 Connection plugs (jumpers), 2 mm/ 7.5 mm.
Procedure

This experiment has two parts:

1. The Wheatstone bridge.
2. Exercises.

Part I: The Wheatstone bridge

1. Construct the circuit shown in Fig. 1. Use R3=2.2 kΩ, R4 =4.7 kΩ, and R v being any
value. Note that the resistance R1 is the resistance between the junctions A and C,
and the resistance R2 is the resistance between the junctions B and C.

Figure 1: Wheatstone bridge circuit.

2. Connect the multimeter to measure the current through the terminals A and B, as
shown in Fig. 1.
3. Adjust the potentiometer until the current through C and D reaches zero (the
multimeter reading reaches zero). This is called balancing, the reason for this will
soon be apparent.
4. Set the switch parallel to the resistance RV to on (short circuit the resistor RV ), note
down any changes in the multimeter reading.
5. Use the multimeter to measure the voltage across each resistor, and place these
values neatly in a table, like that shown in Table 1.
6. Repeat the preceding steps for the rest of resistor values found in Table 1.

Part II: Exercises

From the results of the first part of the experiment:

1. Find a simplified equivalent circuit.
2. Derive Eq. (1), using simple maths techniques.
3. Use Eq. (1), to find the value of an unknown resistor R X , if R X replaced R3 , and the
values of the three other resistors that create a balanced Wheatstone bridge circuit
are known.

Ahmed Mustafa Badi 022160105 Page | 2

Results

Part I: The Wheatstone bridge

This part of the experiment aims to reveal the properties of the balanced Wheatstone bridge.
 Table 1 shows the voltage drop across the resistors. Adjusting the potentiometer so
that the current through A B reaches zero possesses a challenge, this is why the
current I D =1 μA was considered accurate enough.
To calculate the real values of R1 and R2, Eq. (1) is used to derive the relationship
between them and R3 and R4 . Since R1 and R2 are both part of the potentiometer their
sum must therefore be equal to the maximum resistance the potentiometer can
provide (1 kΩ in this case)
R2=1000−R1 (2)
Substituting Eq. (2) into Eq. (1)
1000−R 1
R1= R3
R4
R 3 1000 R3
R1 + R1 =
R4 R4
Rearranging and simplifying
1000 R3
R1= (3)
R3 + R 4
Using Eq. (2), the value of R2 can be easily found. Equation (3) will provide a way to
compare the results of this part of the experiment with their theoretical values.
The average error from the results of Table 1 is very small at ET =0.74 %, meaning
the expected results correspond to the results of the experiment. Since Eq. (1) was
used to calculate the theoretical results of the experiment, and since the results of
the experiment are approximately equal to the theoretical values, this part of the
experiment verifies Eq. (1) that was proposed in the introduction.

Table 1: Table showing the results of the first part of the experiment.
U (V) 10
R3 (Ω) 2200 1000 1000 330 330

R4 (Ω) 4700 4700 1000 1000 470

I D (μA) 1 0 1 0 1

U 1(V) 3.18 1.75 4.96 2.46 4.11

U 2(V) 6.74 8.17 4.96 7.47 5.81

Ahmed Mustafa Badi 022160105 Page | 3

 U 3(V) 3.19 1.73 4.96 2.45 4.11

U 4 (V) 6.74 8.18 4.97 7.47 5.82

From the results of this part of the experiment it can be seen that the voltage across
opposing resistors are equal, meaningU 1=U 3 and U 2=U 4, this shows the relationship
between the resistors, and will be used to verify Eq. (1).

It can be seen that the sum of the voltage across the series resistors has an average of
U 1 Avg +U 2 Avg =9.92 V andU 3 Avg + U 4 Avg =9.92 V , and according to Kirchhoff’s voltage law the
source voltage must be equal to this value. If the source voltage was considered to be at
9.92 V instead of 10 V, the error margin for the same measurements would be almost zero
at ET =0.06 % . This slight error was a result of imprecise equipment, despite this the results
of the experiment are still considered to be extremely accurate.

Part II: Exercises

This part of the experiment aims to derive equations and equivalent circuits that aid in the
analysis of the balanced Wheatstone bridge.
 In the first part of the experiment, step 3, the potentiometer was adjusted until the
current through A B was set to zero ( I D =0 A). Two junctions are considered open
circuited when the current through them is equal to zero (hence I D =0 A), this means
that the branch CD can be replaced with an open circuit equivalent, as shown in Fig.
2.

Figure 2: Balanced Wheatstone bridge equivalent circuit (open circuit).

If the results from Table 1 were to be examined, and the circuit in Fig. 1 was to be
analysed. It will be noticeable that if Kirchhoff’s voltage law was to be used to find the
voltage across the junction A B, it will equal zero (V CD =0 V). A branch is considered
short circuited when the voltage across it is equal to zero (hence V CD =0 V), this
means that the branch CD can be replaced with a short circuit equivalent, as shown
in Fig. 3.

Ahmed Mustafa Badi 022160105 Page | 4

 Figure 3: Balanced Wheatstone bridge equivalent circuit (short circuit).

Figures 2 and 3 show that the branch CD can be replaced with either a short circuit
or an open circuit, this means that if there is a resistor in this branch ( RV in Fig. 1) its
value can be ignored as long as the bridge is balanced.
 From Table 1 it is quite clear to see that U 1=U 3 and U 2=U 4 dividing the former by
the latter and rearranging
U1 U2
= (4)
U3 U 4
Now substituting Ohm’s law into Eq. (3) (U =IR ).
I 1 R1 I 3 R 3
=
I 2 R2 I 4 R 4
If the equivalent circuit from Fig. 2 is used, it is clear to see that I 1=I 2 and I 3=I 4,
substituting this and rearranging
I 1 R1 I 3 R 3
=
I 1 R2 I 3 R4
R1 R3
= (5)
R2 R4
Rearranging Eq. (5) will give Eq. (1).
 If it is known that the Wheatstone bridge is balanced, and if the values of three out of
the four resistors are known, Eq. (1) can be used to determine the value of the fourth
resistance.
Since R3 is being replaced by R X , Eq. (1) can be written as
R1 Rx
=
R2 R4
Solving for R x gives
R4 R1
R x= (6)
R2
From the results of this part of the experiment, two equivalent circuits, the relationship
between the resistors, and a technique for measuring the resistance of an unknown resistor,

Ahmed Mustafa Badi 022160105 Page | 5

have all been derived from the results of the preceding part of the experiment, and all apply
to the balanced Wheatstone circuit.

This part of the experiment shows the many interesting properties of the balanced
Wheatstone bridge circuit. It also provides techniques that aid in analysing this type of
circuit.

Conclusions

The purpose of this experiment was to construct the Wheatstone bridge circuit, find the
relationship between the resistors, and understand the properties of the balanced
Wheatstone bridge circuit. All of these objectives were completed successfully throughout
the experiment.

The Wheatstone bridge circuit is an extremely useful circuit, it has properties that can be
used in a wide range of applications, from measurement devices, to electronic rectifier
circuits. It is essential that an electrical and electronic engineer understands the Wheatstone
bridge circuit, and is able to apply its properties to their advantage.

References

Robert L. Boylestad, Introductory Circuit Analysis, Prentice Hall, 11th ed., 2006, pp. 318-321.
Wilhelm C. Miller and Allan H. Robbins, Circuit Analysis, Cengage, 5th ed., 2013, pp. 270-
276.

Ahmed Mustafa Badi 022160105 Page | 6