Electrical Measurements

&
Testing

Dr. Mohamed Mandor

Assistant Professor, Canadian International College (CIC)
email: [email protected]
 Course Topics (ELP 114)
 Introduction about measurements.
 Errors in measurements.
 Statistical analysis of errors in measurements
 Measuring of all electrical quantities
o Current.
o Voltage.
o Energy.
o Power.
 BRIDGE MEASUREMENTS
o RESISTANCE MEASUREMENTS
o WHEATSTONE BRIDGE
o CAPACITOR MEASUREMENTS
o INDUCTOR MEASUREMENTS
 Course Topics (ELP 114)
 Oscilloscope
 SINE WAVE GENERATORS
 FREQUENCY AND TIME INTERVAL MEASUREMENTS
 TRANSDUCERS

Reference:
“Modern Electronic Instrumentation and Measurements
Techniques”, William D. Cooper, 2009.
Objectives
At the end of this chapter, you should be able to:
 explain units and quantities in electrical field
 discuss and calculate various types of error in
measurement
Chapter outline
 The outline of this chapter is as follows:
1.1 Principles of Measurements
1.2 SI Systems
1.3 Types of error
1.4 Accuracy of Measurements
1.5 Statistical analysis of measurement data
1.1 Principle of Measurements

• A process to present an observer with a numerical value

corresponding to the variable being measured by using
appropriate instrument
• Basically used to monitor a process or operation, or as well as
the controlling process
• Eg: thermometers, multimeter, etc

Input Measurement Output

system
True value Measured value
of variable of variable
1.1 Principle of Measurements

• The major problem encountered with any measuring

instrument is the error
• Therefore, it is necessary to select the appropriate
measuring instrument & measurement method which
minimises error
1.1 Principle of Measurements

During the measurements we have to ensure:

 Quality- best instrument chosen, suitable position when taking

the data, etc..
 Safety- electric shock, overloaded, instrument limits, read
instruction manual
 Sampling – observe parameter changing, taking enough sample

After measurement
 Analyse the data mathematically/statistically
 Full result must be reported completely and accurately
1.1 Principle of Measurements
Electrical Units
i) Fundamental Quantity…

Quantity Symbol Unit Unit Abbre.

Length l meter m

Mass m kilogram kg

Time t second s

Temperature T Kelvin oK

Electric current I Ampere A

 1.1 Principle of Measurements
ii) Derived Quantity…

Quantity Symbol Unit Unit Abbre.

emf/ voltage V volt V

charge Q coulomb C

resistance R Ohm Ω

capacitance C farad F

inductance L hendry H
1.2 Error in Measurement
Error:
• is defined as the difference between the measured value
and the expected value (true value) of the measured
parameter
• Various types of error in measurement:
i) absolute error
ii) gross error
iii) systematic error Static errors
iv) random error
v) limiting error
 1.2 Error in Measurement
i) Absolute error:
The difference between the expected value of the
variable and the measured value of the variable, or

e = Yn – Xn
where:
e = absolute error
Yn = expected value
Xn = measured value
1.2 Error in Measurement
• To express error in percentage
e
% error = Y (100 ) , e = Yn - Xn
n

• We also derived relative accuracy, A;

Yn  X
A 1 n
Yn
1.2 Error in Measurement
• Percentage accuracy, a:
a = 100% - % error
or
a = A x 100%
Example 1.1
The expected value of the voltage across a resistor
is 5.0 V. However, measurement yields a value of
4.9 V. Calculate:
a) absolute error
b) % error
c) relative accuracy
d) % accuracy
1.2 Error in Measurement
ii) Gross Error
 Due to human mistakes
 Example: incorrect reading, incorrect
recording, improper use of instruments, etc
 To minimize:
 take at least 3 separate reading
 take proper care in reading & recording
1.2 Error in Measurement
Instrumental errors
iii) Systematic Error Environmental errors
Observational errors
 due to instrument’s problem or environmental effects
or observational errors
 example…???
 defective or worn parts
 ageing
 parallax error
 wrong estimation reading scale
1.2 Error in Measurement
Instrumental errors :
- due to friction in the bearings of the meter movement, incorrect spring tension,
improper calibration, or faulty instruments
- can be reduced by proper maintenance of instruments
Environmental errors :
- due to external condition of the measuring
- eg: effects of change in temperature, humidity, barometric pressure,
electrostatic fields etc
- can be avoided by: air conditioning, hermetically sealing certain
components in the instrument and using magnetic shields
Observational errors :
-Errors that introduced by the observer
- The two most common observational errors are probably the parallax
error introduced in reading a meter scale and the error of estimation when
obtaining a reading from a meter scale
 1.2 Error in Measurement
iv) Random Errors
 Errors that remain after gross and systematic errors
have been substantially reduced
 Are generally the accumulation of a large number of
small effects
 May be of real concern only in measurements
requiring a high degree of accuracy
 Due to unknown causes
1.2 Error in Measurement
v) Limiting Errors
 Most manufacturers of instruments state that an
instrument is accurate within a certain percentage of
a full-scale reading
 Eg: a voltmeter is accurate within ±2% at full-scale
deflection (limiting errors)
 however, with reading less than full-scale, the limiting
error will increase
 therefore, it is important to obtain measurements as
close as possible to full scale
Example 1.2
A 300-V voltmeter is specified to be accurate within
±2% at full scale. Calculate the limiting error when the
instrument is used to measure a 120-V source?
Example 1.2
Solution
The magnitude of the limiting error is:
2/100 x 300 = 6V

Therefore, the limiting error at 120 V is:

6/120 x 100 = 5%
(reading < full scale, limiting error increased)
 Example 1.3
A voltmeter and an ammeter are to be used to determine the power
dissipated in a resistor. Both instruments are guaranteed to be accurate
within ±1% at full scale. If the voltmeter reads 80V on its 150-V range
and the ammeter reads 70mA on its 100-mA range, calculate the
percentage of limiting error for the power calculation.

Solution:
Limiting error = [0.01x150/80 + 0.01x100/70]x100
= [0.01875 + 0.01428] *100
= 2.857 %
** The limiting error for the power calculation is the
sum of individual limiting errors involved
1.2 Error in Measurement
Precision of a measurement
 A measure of the consistency or repeatability of
measurements

where
Xn = the value of the nth measurement
Xn = the average of the set of n measurements
= sum of the nth measurement values / nth
 Example 1.4
Measurement Measurement  Table below gives the set of 10
number value Xn measurement that were recorded in
1 98 the laboratory. Calculate the
2 101 precision of the 6th measurement.
3 102
4 97
5 101 X n = ??
6 100 Precision = ??
7 103
8 98
9 106
10 99
1.2 Error in Measurement
STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF MEASUREMENT DATA
 Important because it allows an analytical determination of the
uncertainty of the final result
 A large number of measurements is usually required
 can be divided into 4:
 Arithmetic mean / average
 deviation
 average deviation
 standard deviation
1.2 Error in Measurement
i) Arithmetic mean/average:
- the most probable value of measured variable

x1  x 2  x3   x n n xi
x 
n i 1 n

n = total number of reading

xn = nth reading taken
xi = set of number
 1.2 Error in Measurement
ii) Deviation:
- The difference between each piece of data and
arithmetic mean

d n  xn  x
d 1  x1  x d 2  x2  x

- Algebraic sum of deviation,

d tot  d1  d 2    d n  0
1.2 Error in Measurement
iii) Average deviation (D):
- precision of a measuring instrument
- high D low precision
- low D  high precision

d1  d 2    d n
D
n
1.2 Error in Measurement
iv) Standard deviation:
- also known as root mean square deviation
- the most important factor in statistical analysis
- reduction means improvement in measurement

d12  d22  d32  ....  dn2


n 1
d n2
 
n 1
Example 1.5
For the following data compute
x1= 50.1 x2= 49.7
x3= 49.6 x4= 50.2

(a) The arithmetic mean (49.9)

(b) The deviation of each value (0.2,-0.2,-0.3,0.3)
(c) The algebraic sum of the deviation (0)
(d) The average deviation (0.25)
(e) The standard deviation (0.294)
Summary
 Some terms + definitions are as below:
 Error – ---???
 Accuracy – The degree of exactness of a
measurement compared to the expected value
 Precision – A measure of consistency, or
repeatability of measurements.
 Summary

 Instrument – a device or mechanism used to

determine the present value of a quantity
 Measurement – a process of comparing an
unknown quantity with an accepted standard
quantity.
 Standard – an instrument or device having a
recognized permanent (stable) value that is
used as a reference.
Summary
 expected value – the most probable value we
should expect to obtain.
 deviation – the difference between any piece
of data in a set of numbers and the arithmetic
mean of the set of numbers.
 ANY
QUESTIONS?