BECE101 – Basics Electronics

Module 6 : Principles of Measurement and Analysis

Dr. Sridhar Chandrasekaran

Assistant Professor (Senior)
VIT University, Chennai
Topics in Module 6
Units and standards, Errors, Functional Elements of a Measurement
System and Instruments, Applications and Classification of Instruments,
Types of measured Quantities, Measures of Dispersion, Sample deviation
and sample mean, Calibration and standard.

Weightage
Internals (3 assignments)
External (2- CAT, and FAT)
Measurement System and
Instruments
 Need for Measurement
• Any phenomena in physics could be understand through
experiments
• Experiment require measurements
• Measure physical property
– Length, mass, temperature, time and pressure
• Process by which one can convert physical parameters to
meaningful numbers
• In measuring process the property of an object is compared to
an accepted standard unit
 Unit
• Standard used for the measurement of physical quantity
– Length: meter, foot, inch
– Mass: kilogram, pound
– Time: second, minute, hour
– Temperature: Fahrenheit, Kelvin
Units and Standards
 Units
• CGS system of units
– Based on Centimeter, gram and second
– Fundamental unit of length, mass and time
– Gaussian system of units
• MKS system of units
– Based on meter, kilogram and second
– Fundamental unit of length, mass and time
– French system of units
• FPS system of units (Foot, pound and second). British system of unit
• International system of units (SI)
– System of units for international usage
– Seven fundamental units and two supplementary units
 Fundamental Units

https://www.slideshare.net/KhanSaif2/1-measurement-69571134
Two Supplementary Units
SI Prefixes
Practical units for measuring Length
Practical units for measuring Area
Practical units for measuring Mass
Practical units for measuring Time
 Dimensions of a Physical Quantity
• Powers of fundamental quantities in a derived quantity are
called dimensions of that quantity
• Example
Seven Dimensions of the World
 Types of Measurement
• (i) Direct Methods and (ii) Indirect Methods
Direct Method
– Unknown quantity (measurand) is directly compared against standard
– The result is expressed as a number and a unit
– Quite common for the measurement of physical quantities like length,
mass and time.
Indirect Methods
– Several parameters are measured directly and then the value is
determined by mathematical relationship
– Example
• Density = Mass/Volume
 Functional Elements of a Measurement
System and Instruments
• Most of the measurement systems contain three main functional
elements
– Primary sensing element
– Variable conversion element
– Data presentation element
• Each functional element is made up of a distinct component or groups of
components
 Functional Elements of a Measurement
System and Instruments
• Sensor
– Measurand is first detected by primary sensor
• Transducer
– Device which converts a physical quantity into an electrical quantity
• Signal Conditioning
– Processes may be linear like amplification, attenuation, integration,
differentiation, addition and subtraction.
– Some nonlinear processes like modulation, detection, sampling,
filtering, chopping and clipping etc. are also performed on the signal
– To bring it to the desired form to be accepted by the next stage of
measurement system
 Functional Elements of a Measurement
System and Instruments
• Data Transmission Element
– Transmit data from one elements to another which are physically
separated
• Data Presentation Element
– The information about the quantity under measurement to be
conveyed to the personnel handling the instrument or the system
– For monitoring, control, or analysis purposes
Example of Generalized measurement system
Bourdon Tube Pressure Gauge

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmOnrEZ_z6k
 CHARACTERISTICS OF MEASURING
INSTRUMENTS
• STATIC CHARACTERISTICS
– Considered for instruments which are used to measure an unvarying
process condition
• Dynamic Characteristics
– Considered for instruments which are used to measure a varying
process condition
 STATIC CHARACTERISTICS
• Accuracy
– Degree of closeness of the measured value to the true value
– Gives the maximum error that is maximum departure of the final
result from its true value
• Accuracy of an instrument is specified by ±5% for the range of 0 to
2000C in the temperature scale
• The reading might be within + or -100C of the true reading
 Example
• A thermometer is calibrated 1500C to 2000C. The accuracy is specified
within ±0.25 percent. What is the maximum static error.
 Example Problems
• A wattmeter having a range 1000 W has an error of 1% of full scale
deflection. If the true power is 100 W, what would be the range of
readings.

• Error = (1/100)*1000 = 10 W
• Wattmeter reading when true reading is 100W may be
100 ± 10𝑊 i.e. 90 𝑡𝑜 110𝑊
 STATIC CHARACTERISTICS
• Precision
– Degree of closeness of agreement within a group of measurements
are repeatedly made under the prescribed condition
– Describe the stability or reliability or the reproducibility of results

Accuracy Precision
It refers to degree of closeness of the It refers to the degree of agreement
measured value to the true value among group of readings
Accuracy gives the maximum error that Precision of a measuring system gives its
is maximum departure of the final result capability to reproduce a certain reading
from its true value with given accuracy
 STATIC CHARACTERISTICS
• Bias
– Difference between the average of measured readings made on the
same instrument and its true value
• Resolution or (Discrimination)
– Smallest change in the input value that is required to cause an
appreciable change in the output
• A moving coil voltmeter has a uniform scale with 100 divisions the full
scale reading is 200 V and 1/10 of a scale division can be estimated with a
fair degree of certainty. Determine the resolution of the instrument in volt
 STATIC CHARACTERISTICS
• Sensitivity
– Ratio of change in output signal (response) to the change in input signal
(measurand)
– Relationship indicating how much output changes when input changes
– Sensitivity is constant then the system is said to be linear system
– Sensitivity is variable then the system is said to be non linear system

• Linearity
– Refers to output is linearly or directly proportional to input over the entire
range of instrument
 Example
• A Wheatstone bridge requires a change of 7 Ω in the unknown arm of the
bridge to produce a change in deflection of 3 mm of the galvanometer.
Determine the sensitivity. Also determine the deflection factor
 Hysteresis
• Difference between increasing change and decreasing change of output
values is known as hysteresis error
 STATIC CHARACTERISTICS
• Dead Zone
– The region upto which the instrument does not respond for an input
change
– Dead time is the time required by an instrument to begin to respond
to change in input quantity
• Drift
– Undesirable change in output over a period of time that is unrelated
to change in input, operating conditions
– Occurred in instruments due to internal temperature variations,
ageing effects and high stress etc..
 Example
• The dead zone in a certain pyrometer is 0.125 percent of span. The
calibration is 400°C to 1000°C. What temperature change might occur
before it is detected.
• Span=l000-400=600°C
 Threshold
• The minimum value of input which is necessary to activate an instrument
to produce an output
• Minimum value of the input required to cause the pointer to move from
zero position
 STATIC CHARACTERISTICS
• Backlash
– Maximum distance or angle through which any part of the instrument
can be moved without causing any motion of next part of the system

Threshold because of backlash

 STATIC CHARACTERISTICS
• Input Impedance
– The magnitude of the impedance of element connected across the
signal source

• Loading Effect
– Incapability of the system to faith fully measure, record or control the
input signal in accurate form
 STATIC CHARACTERISTICS
• Repeatability
– Ability of an instrument to give the same output for repeated
applications of same input value under same environmental condition
• Reproducibility
– Ability of an instrument to reproduce the same output for repeated
applications of same input value under different environment
condition
• Static Error
– Difference between the true value of the measuring quantity to the
value shown by the measuring instrument under not varying process
conditions
 Static Error/ Absolute Error
• Static error = |Actual value – Measured value|
δA - Absolute static error of quantity A under measurement
• Relative static error

• Am = At (that is εr<<<1)
 Static Error
• Static Correction
– It is the difference between the true value and the measured value of
the quantity
– δC= At-Am
– where δC= static correction = - δA
 Example
• A voltage has a true value of l.50 V. An analog indicating instrument with a
scale range of (0 - 2·50) V shows a voltage of 1.46 V. What are the values
of absolute error and correction. Express the error as a fraction of the true
value and the full scale deflection
Absolute error δA =Am- At=l.46 – 1.50=-0·04 V
Absolute correction δC= - δA=+0·04 V
Relative error
 Dynamic Characteristics
• Speed of Response
– It is the rapidity with which an instrument responds to changes in the
measured quantity.
• Lag
– Retardation or delay in the response of an instrument to changes in
the measured variable
• Dynamic Error
– Difference between the true value of the measured quantity to the
value shown by the measuring instrument under varying conditions
• Fidelity
– It is the degree to which an instrument indicates the changes in the
measured variable without dynamic error
 Dynamic Characteristics
Overshoot
Moving parts of instruments have mass and thus have inertia
The pointer does not immediately come to rest at its final deflected position,
when an input is applied to instruments
Maximum amount by which moving system
moves beyond steady state position
 Example
A step input 5 A is applied to an ammeter. The pointer swings to a current of
5.18 A and comes to rest at 5.02 A
a) Determine the overshoot of the reading in ampere and in percentage of
final reading
b) Determine the percentage error in the instrument

Solution: 𝑎) Overshoot = 5.18-5.02=0.16A

!.#$
Percentage overshoot = ×100 = 3.2%
%.!&
%.!&'%.!
b) Percentage error = ×100 = 0.4%
%.!
CLASSIFICATION OF INSTRUMENT SYSTEMS
• Absolute Instruments
– Give the magnitude of the quantity under measurement in terms of
physical constants of the instrument
– Do not require comparison with other standards
– Example
• Tangent Galvanometer
• Early measuring instrument for small electric current
• Secondary Instruments
– Important to calibrate these tools against an absolute instrument
– Voltmeter, Ammeter
 Classification of Error
• Systematic error
– Arise due to flaws in experimental system
– System => Observer, measuring instrument and environment
• Observational error
• Instrumental error
• Environmental error
• Gross error
• Random error
 Observational error
• Arise due to faulty procedures adopted by person doing measurement
 Instrumental error

• Due to faulty construction of instruments

 Environmental Error
• Caused by external conditions like temperature, pressure,
wind, magnetic or electric field
 Gross Error
• The main source is human mistakes in reading or using instruments and in
recording and calculating measured quantity
• As long as human beings are involved and they may grossly misread the
scale reading
• Definitely some gross errors will occur in measured value
• Example
– Due to an oversight, experimenter may read the temperature as
22.7oC while the actual reading may be 32.7oC
• Can be avoided by
– Taking great care during reading and recording the data
– Taking three or more readings using different experimenters and
different reading point (different environment condition)
 Random Error
• Due to unknown causes
• Chances error
• Cannot be eliminated but only be reduced
• Estimated by using statistical operations
• Example
– Oscillation period of pendulum with stop watch
 Arithmetic Mean
• Average of all five readings gives the most probable value for
time period
 Absolute Error (Deviation)
• Magnitude of the difference between mean value and each individual
value
• Departure of the observed reading from the arithmetic mean of the group
of reading
Mean absolute Error (Mean Deviation)
• Arithmetic mean of all absolute error
 Standard Deviation & Variance

• Where d1 =
Error Metrics
Problem: In a test temperature is measured 100 times with variations in apparatus
and procedures. After applying corrections, the results are given in table. Find
arithmetic mean, mean deviation, standard deviation, Relative error, True value
range

Temperature, Frequency of
T (degree C) Occurrence, f Txf Deviation fxd d2 fxd2
!""#$
• Mean temperature: = 400.78°𝐶 397 1 397 -3.78 -3.78 14.2884 14.2884
%""
%"&.$ 398 3 1194 -2.78 -8.34 7.7284 23.1852
• Mean deviation: %"" = 1.028°𝐶 399 12 4788 -1.78 -21.36 3.1684 38.0208

400 23 9200 -0.78 -17.94 0.6084 13.9932

%(%"$
• Standard deviation: 𝜎 = = 1.38° 401 37 14837 0.22 8.14 0.0484 1.7908
%""
402 16 6432 1.22 19.52 1.4884 23.8144
• Relative error = Mean deviation / Arithmetic mean 403 4 1612 2.22 8.88 4.9284 19.7136
• = 1.028 / 400.78 = 0.00260 404 2 808 3.22 6.44 10.3684 20.7368

• True value range = Arithmetic mean ± Mean deviation 405 2 810 4.22 8.44 17.8084 35.6168

Total 100 40078 102.8 191.08

• = 400.78 ± 1.028
Average/mean 400.78
 Example
• A set of independent current measurements were recorded as 10.03,
10·10, 10·11, and 10.08 A. Calculate (a) the average current, and (b) the
range of error
 Calibration
• Process of checking the accuracy of instrument by comparing the
instrument reading with a standard or against a similar meter of known
accuracy
• Calibration is better carried out under the predetermined environmental
conditions
• All industrial grade instruments can be checked for accuracy in the
laboratory by using the working standard
• Calibration procedure involves the comparison of particular instrument
with either
– A primary standard,
– A secondary standard with higher accuracy than the instrument to be
calibrated
– An instrument of known accuracy
 Calibration
• Primary or Absolute method of calibration
– Particular test instrument (the instrument to be calibrated) is
calibrated against primary standard
– After the primary calibration, the instrument can be used as a
secondary calibration instrument
• Secondary or comparison method of calibration
– Instrument is calibrated against secondary standard instrument
 References
• A.K. Sawhney, Puneet Sawhney, A Course In
Electrical and Electronic Measurements, and
Instrumentation, Dhanpat Rai & Co., 2015