BCE3216: Instrumentation &

Measurements.

EEE3 & BCE3

Lecture 3

• Measurement Errors contd…..

 The Effect of an Ammeter on circuit
R
Measuring current in a simple circuit:
• 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)
 Example:
An ammeter of resistance 10 m is used to measure the current
through a 10 resistor in series with a 3V 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

I = 0.2857 A = 285.7 mA
Current with ammeter:
V
I=
R +r +R A

3 R=10 
I= A
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 • Ammeter resistance RA = 10 m

% Error = 0.1 %
 Designing an ammeter
Galvanometer:
• current flows through a coil in a magnetic field
• coil experiences a torque, the deflection is at an angle
proportional to the current through it.
 Designing an ammeter

• Ammeter can be based on galvanometer

• 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.
The ammeter uses a galvanometer and a shunt, connected in
parallel: galvanometer
RG
G
IG
A  A
RSHUNT
B
I
I
ISHUNT

Everything inside the green box is the ammeter.

• Current I gets split into Ishunt and IG

A shunt is a low-resistance path for electric

current, to allow it to pass around another
point in the circuit.
 RG
G
IG
A B
RSHUNT
I

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
A galvanometer-based ammeter uses a galvanometer and a
shunt, connected in parallel.

Example: what shunt resistance is required for an ammeter to

have a resistance of 10 m, if the galvanometer resistance is 60
?
RG
1 1 1
  G
R A RG RS IG
RS
1 1 1 I
 
RS R A RG
IS
R G R A  60  .01
RS    0.010 
R G -R A 60 -.01
• The practical ammeter
will have an internal
resistance
 The Effect of a Voltmeter on circuit

Measuring voltage (potential difference) V

Vab in a simple circuit:
R=10 
• connect voltmeter in parallel a b

Are we measuring the correct voltage?

(the voltage in the circuit without voltmeter) r=0.5 

V=3 V
 Effect of voltmeter on circuit
RV

• Voltmeter has some resistance RV IV

R=10 
• Current IV flows through voltmeter a b

• Extra current changes voltage drop

r=0.5 
across r and thus Vab

V=3 V

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

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

What is the relative error caused by the nonzero resistance of

the galvanometer?
R1=10 k
a b
Actual voltage drop without instrument:

3 R2=5 k
R eq  R1 +R 2 =15 10 

V 6V -3
V=6 V
I  3
 0.4  10 A
R eq 15 10 

Vab = IR   0.4 10-3 10 103    4 V

The measurement is made with the galvanometer.

60  and 10 k resistors in parallel are

RG=60 
equivalent to 59.6  resistor.
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=1.186 mA
4

Would you pay for this voltmeter?

We need a better instrument!
 Example:
A voltmeter of resistance 100 k is used to measure the voltage
drop across a 10k resistor in series with an ideal 6V battery
and a 5k resistor.

What is the percent error caused by the nonzero resistance of

the voltmeter? R =10 k
1
a b

We already calculated the actual

voltage drop (2 slides back). R2=5 k

Vab = IR   0.4 10-3 10 103    4 V V=6 V

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

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

are equivalent to an 9090  resistor. V
Total equivalent resistance: 14090 

Total current: I=4.26x10-4 A R1=10 k

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
I=.426 mA
4 - 3.87
% Error = 100 = 3.25%
4
Not great, but much better.
General error calculation
Percentage error is defined as:
X  X  '
e p = 100er = 100 
 X 
Example
Suppose 1.414 is used as an approximation to 2 .
Find the absolute, relative and percentage errors.
2 = 1.41421356

Absolute error
ea = True value – Approximate value
(absolute error)

∴ ea = 1.41421356 -1.414
= 0. 00021356
• Relative error
2 = 1.41421356
 Error 
er = 
True Value (relative error)

0.00021356 3
∴ er =  = 0.15110
 2 

• Percentage error

∴ e p =e r × 100 = 0.151× 10− 1 (percentag e error)

Example:
For True value = 122 mm
and expected value = 120 mm

Then:
a. absolute error = True value - expected value
absolute error = 122mm – 120mm = 2mm

b. relative error = absolute error / expected value

relative error = 2mm / 120mm = 0.017
Note: relative error has no units.

c. percent error = relative error x 100%

percent error = 0.017 x 100% = 1.7%
 Example

Given expected voltage value across a resistor as 80V.

The measurement is 79V. Calculate,
i. The absolute error
ii. The % of error
iii. The relative accuracy
iv. The % of accuracy
 Solution (Example)

Given that, expected value = 80V

measurement value = 79V

i. Absolute error, e = Y n− X n = 80V – 79V = 1V

Y  X n 80  79
ii. % error =  n 100 = 100 = 1.25%
 Yn  80
Yn  X n
iii. Relative accuracy, A = 1 = 0.9875
 Yn 
iv. % accuracy, a = A x 100% = 0.9875 x 100% = 98.75%
 Limiting Error
 The maximum allowable error in the measurement is
specified in terms of true value.

 The accuracy of measuring instrument is guaranteed

within a certain percentage (%) of full scale reading

e.g manufacturer may specify the instrument to be

accurate at 2% with full scale deflection

 For reading less than full scale, the limiting error

increases
 Limiting Error (cont)
Example
Given a 600V voltmeter with accuracy 2% full scale.
Calculate limiting error when the instrument is used to
measure a voltage of 250V?

Solution
The magnitude of limiting error, 0.02 x 600 = 12V
Therefore, the limiting error for 250V
= 12/250 x 100 = 4.8%
 LIMITING ERROR (cont)

Example

Given for a certain measurement, a limiting error for

voltmeter at 70V is 2.143% and a limiting error for
ammeter at 80mA is 2.813%. Determine the limiting
error of the power.

Solution

The limiting error for the power = 2.143% + 2.813%

= 4.956%
In summary

Since the instruments and measurement scenarios are

more real than ideal, errors are part of the processes.

• Human errors can be avoided with more attention.

• Anomalous results can be seen on a graph.

• Random errors can be reduced by taking many

readings, and then calculating the average (mean).

• Systematic errors, including zero errors, will cause

all your results to be wrong.