Electrical and Electronic Measurement

Parveen Malik
Assistant Professor
School of Electronics Engineering
KIIT University

[email protected]

October 4, 2021

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Outline

1 Measurement and its significance

2 Methods of Measurement

3 Classification of instruments

4 Errors in measurement

5 Accuracy and Precision

6 Significant Figures

7 Standards of Measurement

8 IEEE Standards

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Measurement
” I often say that when you can measure what you are speaking about and
can express in numbers, you know something about it; when you can-not
express it in numbers your knowledge is a meagre and Unsatisfactory Kind
” - Lord Kelvin

Measurement1 is the process by which one convert physical parameters to

meaningful numbers. Measuring process is the one in which the property
of an object or system under consideration is compared to an accepted
standard unit.
Requirement of Measurement
The standard used for comparison must be accurately defined and
commonly accepted.
e.g Heavy or light weight doesn’t have sense until its compared with a
standard.
The apparatus used and method adopted must be provable.
1
A Course in Electrical and Electronic Measurements and Instrumentation,
A. K. Sawhney, Dhanpat Rai.
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Measurement and its significance
Measurement and its significance

Significance
Measurement play a significant role in achieving goals and objective
of engineering because of feedback information supplied by them. e.g.
Each branch of engineering have two functions :
Design of equipment and process,
Proper operation and maintenance of equipment and process.
All these process require measurements.

Applications
Monitoring of Process and Operations.
Control of processes and operations.
Experiment Engineering Analysis.

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Methods of Measurement
Methods of measurement
Methods of Measurement
Direct Method Indirect Method
1 Unknown quantity is directly 1 Unknown quantity is
compared against a primary measured by instruments.
or secondary standard. e.g. e.g. Measurement of strain
Length, Mass Measurement on elastic iron.
2 Human Factor is more2 . 2 Human Factor is less.
3 Less Accurate 3 More Accurate

(a) (b) (c) (d)

Figure: (a) Vernier Calliper (b) Micrometer (c) Multimeter (d) AM
2
Human preciseness =0.25 mm
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Methods of Measurement
What is Instrument ?
Methods of measurement- Instrument
Instrument
An instrument is a physical device used to measure the unknown quantity
or variable.

Broader Classification - Electrical, electronic and Mechanical.

Earlier instruments were mechanical in nature and their principals of
operating is vogue today.
Three essential elements of an instrument which are still valid today
are

An Indicator
Detector Intermediate Recorder
Transfer Device Storage Device

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 Types of Instruments
Mechanical, Electrical and
Electronic Instruments
Types of Instruments - Broad Classification
Mechanical, Electrical and Electronic Instruments

Mechanical Instruments
Very reliable for static and stable conditions.
Unable to operate under dynamic and transient conditions.
Very bulky,rigid and heavy.
Produce a lot of Noise

Electrical Instruments
More rapid than Mechanical.e.g Galvanometer
Obey Ohm’s law
Limited time due to involvement of mechanical parts. e.g. Industrial
recorders response time 0.5 to 24s.
Frequency response

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Types of Instruments - Broad Classification
Mechanical, Electrical and Electronic Instruments

Electronic Instruments
Faster response -Semiconductor devices (E.g Typical RT ≃ ns)
Higher Sensitivity- Can detect weaker signals e.g. Bio electric
potential ≃ 1mV
Greater Flexibility - Can be added with pre-amplifier to detect weak
signal
Lower weight
Higher Reliability- Can operated at adverse locations.
Low power consumption

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Classification of Instruments
Absolute and Secondary
Classification of Instruments- Absolute and Secondary
Absolute Instruments Secondary Instruments
These instruments gives the These instruments gives the
magnitude of quantity under magnitude of quantity under
measurement in terms of physical measurement by directly observing
constants of the instrument. the output. e.g. Voltmeter,
e.g. Tangent Galvanometer3 Glass Thermometer, Pressure
Rayleigh’s current Balance4 gauge5

(a) (b) (c) (d)

Figure: (a) T.G. (b) R.C.B. coils (c) Pressure Gauge (d) Voltmeter
3
http://www.questtutorials.com
4
https://nistdigitalarchives.contentdm.oclc.org
5
https://www.grainger.com
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Classification of Instruments
Deflection and Null Type
Classification of Instruments- Deflection and Null Type

Deflection Type Null Type

Basis of measurement is Basis of measurement is Null
deflection Indication
e.g. PMMC e.g. D.C.Potentiometer

(a) (b)

Figure: (a) Deflection Type - PMMC. (b) Null Type - D.C. Potentiometer
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Classification of Instruments - Deflection and Null Type

Comparison

Deflection Type Null Type

1 Lower Accuracy due to 1 Higher Accuracy due to
calibration dependency on standard calibration.
instrument constants. 2 More sensitive as detector
2 Less Sensitive as detector need not to measure
need to measure magnitude magnitude of unknown
of unknown quantity. quantity.
3 Suitable for Dynamic 3 Suitable for Static
Conditions Conditions6 .

6
Exception : Self Balancing Potentiometer used in commercial automatic
control instruments
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Classification of Instruments
Indicating, Recording and
Controlling
Classification of Instruments - Indicating, Recording and
Controlling Function

Indicating Recording Controlling

Supply Info. as Disseminate info. Use info to
an indication. in the form of a control the
e.g Deflection of record. e.g. original measured
pointer of Potentiometer quantity. e.g.
speedometer, records temp. Thermostats -
Pressure Gauge put its Temperature
instantaneous control, Floats -
values on strip liquid control.
chart recorder.

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 Errors in measurement
Gross , Systematic and Random
Errors in measurement7- Gross , Systematic and Random
Gross Error Systematic Error Random Error
Human Errors Instrumental - Random variations
Misreading, Overloading,irregular in parameters or
Adjustments spring tension, uneven system of
Improper application of stretching of spring. measurement.
instruments, Environmental - Different results
computational change in ambient for repeated
mistakes. Temp., Humidity, Pres- measurements.
e.g Low R voltmeter in sure,Electrical/Magnetic
high R applications field.

(a) (b) (c)

7
Modern Electronic Instrumentation and Measurement Techniques - A .D
Helfrick,
Parveen W.D.
Malik (PhD,Cooper
IIT Guwahati) E and EM October 4, 2021 21 / 33
Errors in measurement8

8
Lecture Notes on Electrical Engineering Technologies - Prof. Dr. Bahattin
Karagzolu
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 Errors in measurement
Absolute Error and Relative Error
Errors in Measurement9- Absolute Error and Relative Error

Absolute Error
When the measured value is expressed with a absolute value of error, then
it is refered to as Absolute Error
e.g R = 500 ± 50Ω. Here 50Ω is an absolute value.

Relative Error
When the error is expressed as a percentage or fraction of total measured
value.
e.g R = 500 ± 10%Ω. Here 10% is tolerance value in Resistance.

Another representation is ppm.

∆R
e.g. Temp. coefficient is expressed as ∆T = 100ppm/◦ C . So 1MΩ would
have 100Ω of increment with 1 C rise in temperature.
◦

9
Electronic Instrumentation and Measurements David A. Bell
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Accuracy and Precision
Accuracy and Precision
Accuracy Precision
It is the degree of closeness by It is the degree of closeness by
which the measured value which the measured values are
approaches the true value. close to each other in a set of
e.g True Value : −45.002◦ C observation.
Observation 1-5 e.g.
:−44.93◦ C ,−44.99◦ C ,−44.90◦ C , Observation 1-5 : −44.00◦ C ,
−44.97◦ C ,−45.003◦ C . −44.99◦ C ,−44.90◦ C
Factors Affecting Accuracy ,−44.97◦ C ,−45.003◦ C
Intrinsic Accuracy of Factors Affecting Precision
instrument Conformity - repeatability or
Accuracy of observer. reproducibility
Variation of Signal under No. of the significant
measurement. numbers.

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Accuracy and Precision
Mathematically

Absolute accuracy is defined as maximum absolute deviation from true

value.

δ1 = True Value − Min.

δ2 = Max. − True Value
Absolute Accuracy = max{δ1 , δ2 } (1)
Relative Accuracy(RA) = Absolute Accuracy
True Value
% Accuracy = RA × 100

Precision is the absolute max. deviation from the average of the readings.

δ1 = Vavg − Min.
δ2 = Max. − Vavg (2)
Precision = max{δ1 , δ2 }

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Significant Figures
Significant Figures

Significant figures convey actual information regarding the magnitude and

the measurement precision of a quantity.
The more significant figures the greater the precision of measurement.
e.g. Let us consider the reading of voltmeter is 8.135 V. It means reading
is precise to 4 significant figures so that measurement precision is 0.001 V
or 1 mV. If the measurement was made to precision of 10mv, the display
would be 8.13 V or 8.14 V.

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Standards of Measurement
Standards of Measurement

1 International Standards are defined by international agreement. and

maintained at international bureau of weights and measure.
International Ohm: It is defined as the resistance offered by a column
of mercury having a mass of 14.4521 grams, uniform cross-section
areas length of 106.300 cm, to the flow of constant current at the
melting point of ice.
International Ampere: It is an unvarying current, which when passed
through a solution of silver nitrate in water deposits silver at the rate
0.00111800 grams/sec (g/s).
2 Primary Standard are maintained by national standards laboratories
in different parts of the world.
3 Secondary Standard are used in industrial measurement laboratories.
4 Working Standard are the principle tools of a measurement .

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IEEE Standards
IEEE Standards

IEEE stands for Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers

This standard is mentioned by society named as IEEE standard.
Most of IEEE standard is considered as the standard test method for
testing and evaluating various electronic systems and components.
e.g. IEEE 488 Instrumentation Bus

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