Acknowledgement

I would like to express my special thanks of

gratitude to my Physics teacher who gave me a
golden opportunity to do this wonderful project
on the topic “Moving Coil Galvanometer’’,
which also helped me in doing a lot of research
and I came to know about so many new things
that I am really thankful to them.
Secondly, I would like to thank my friends and
parents who helped me a lot in finalizing this
project within the limited time frame.
 Introduction
A galvanometer is an electromechanical
instrument for detecting and indicating electric
current. A galvanometer works as an actuator, by
producing a rotary deflection (of a "pointer"), in
response to electric current flowing through a coil
in a constant magnetic field. Early galvanometers
were not calibrated, but their later developments
were used as measuring instruments, called
ammeters, to measure the current flowing
through an electric circuit.
Galvanometers developed from the observation
that the needle of a magnetic compass is
deflected near a wire that has electric current
flowing through it, first described by Hans
Oersted in 1820. They were the first Instruments
used to detect and measure small amounts of
electric currents. André-Marie Ampère, who gave
mathematical expression to Ørsted's discovery
and named the instrument after the Italian
electricity researcher Luigi Galvani, who in 1791
discovered the principle of the frog galvanoscope
that electric current would make the legs of a
dead frog Jerk.
Sensitive galvanometers have been essential for
the development of science and technology in
many fields. For example, they enabled long
range communication through submarine cables,
such as the earliest Transatlantic telegraph
cables, and were essential to discovering the
electrical activity of the heart and brain, by their
fine measurements of current.

Principle
When a current coil is suspended in a uniform
magnetic field it is acted upon by a torque. Under
the action of this torque, the coil rotates and the
deflection in the coil in a moving coil
galvanometer is directly proportional to the
current flowing through the coil.

Construction/Diagram
The suspended type consists of a rectangular coil
of thin insulated copper wires having a large
number of turns.
The coil is suspended between the poles of a
powerful horseshoe magnet by a suspension fibre
of phosphor-bronze. A spring is attached to the
other end of the coil. The current enters the coil
through the fibre and leaves the coil through the
spring.
The upper end of the suspension fibre is
connected to a rotating screw head so that the
plane of the coil can be adjusted in any desired
position.
The horseshoe magnet has cylindrically concave
pole-pieces. Due to this shape, the magnet
produces radial magnetic field so that when coil
rotates in any position its plane is always parallel
to the direction of magnetic field. When current
flows through the coil it gets deflected.

A soft iron cylinder is fixed inside the coil such

that the coil can rotate freely between the poles
and around the cylinder. Due to the high
permittivity, the soft iron core increases the
strength of the radial magnetic field.
A small plane mirror M is fixed to the suspension
fibre. This along with lamp and scale
arrangement is used to measure the deflection of
the coil.

Theory
Consider a rectangular coil PQRS of single turn
having length 'l' and breadth 'b' suspended in a
uniform magnetic field of induction B such that
the plane of the coil is parallel to the magnetic
field. Let 'I' be the current through the coil.

 The sides PS and QR being parallel to the

magnetic field do not experience any force,
but the sides PQ and RS being perpendicular
to the magnetic field experience force. The
force experienced by each side is given by,
:. F = B I I
 By Fleming's left-hand rule these forces are
opposite in direction. As these two forces are
equal and opposite they form what is called as
 a couple and due to which a torque acts on the
coil which tries to deflect the coil. The
deflection torque is given by,
Torque = Force x Perpendicular distance
between the forces. T = F x b
:. T= B I I x b
But I T b = A, the area of the coil
:. T = B I A

If the coil has 'n' turns, then the deflecting torque

is given by
:.T = n BIA
 Under the action of this torque, the plane of the
coil rotates through an angle θ before coming
to rest. Due to the radial magnetic field, the
plane of the coil is always parallel to the
direction of magnetic field. Thus at any
position, the deflecting torque has constant
magnitude. The rotation of the coil produces a
twist in the fibre which produces a restoring
torque which is directly proportional to the
angle of deflection θ.
Τ ∝θ
:. T = k θ
Where k is the torque per unit twist (or torsional
constant) of the suspension fibre.
 When the coil comes to rest i.e. when it attains
equilibrium, the restoring torque will balance
the deflecting torque. So in equilibrium position
of the coil,
Deflecting torque = Restoring torque.
nBIA=kθ

The quantities in bracket are constant, therefore

:. I ∝ q
Thus in a moving coil galvanometer current in
the coil is directly proportional to the angle of
deflection of the coil.

Advantages and Disadvantages

Advantages of Moving Coil Galvanometers:

 They are not affected by strong magnetic field.

 They have the high torque to weight ratio.

 They are very accurate and reliable.

 Their scales are uniform.

 Disadvantages of Moving Coil Galvanometers:
 The change in temperature causes a change in
restoring torque.

 Restoring torque cannot be easily changed.

 There is a possibility of damage to the

phosphor bronze fibre or helical restoring
spring due to severe stresses.

 Such instruments can only be used for

measurement of direct current quantities and
cannot be used for measurement of alternating
current quantities.
 Sensitivity and Accuracy of a
Galvanometer

Sensitivity of Moving Coil Galvanometer:

 The sensitivity of moving coil galvanometer is

defined as the ratio of the change in deflection
of the galvanometer to the change in the
current.
Sensitivity = d θ / di
 A galvanometer is said to be sensitive if it gives
larger deflection for a small current.

The current in moving coil galvanometer is given

by

Thus the sensitivity of moving coil galvanometer

can be increased by
 Increasing the number of turns (n) of the coil,
 Increasing the area (A) of the coil,
 Increasing the magnetic induction (B) and
 Decreasing the couple per unit (k) of the
suspension fibre.

Limitations to Increase in
Sensitivity of Moving Coil
Galvanometer:
 Increase in the number of turns and area of the
coil increases the load on suspension fibre.
Hence spring higher value of k should be used
which decreases the sensitivity of the
galvanometer.
 Increasing the strength of magnetic induction
leads to increase in the weight of the
apparatus.
 Decreasing the couple per unit twist of the
spring leads to decrease in the strength of the
spring.
 If the turns of the coil are increased the length
of wire and hence the resistance of the coil
increases.
 Increasing the area of the coil beyond limit
makes the instrument bulky.

Accuracy of Moving Coil

Galvanometer:
 The relative error in the measurement of
current is given by di/i
For moving coil galvanometer, the current
through it is given by

 Thus the error in the measurement of current

depends only on the measurement of the
deflection in the galvanometer dθ.
 For greater accuracy of the galvanometer, the
ratio di / i should be small. It is small when the
deflection is large. Thus for greater accuracy,
the deflection in the galvanometer should be
large for small current in it.
 As the expression of accuracy does not contain
the terms n, A, B and k the accuracy is
independent of the number of turns of the coil,
the area of the coil, the magnetic induction and
constant for the spring.
D.A.V PUBLIC SCHOOL
A PROJECT REPORT ON
“MOVING COIL GALVANOMETER”
(SESSION 24-25)

[PHYSICS PROJECT]
Submitted by : Dwijesh Mane
Submitted On :
Class : XII
Section : D
Under the guidance of : Mrs. Loveleen Sharda

Index
Serial no. Title Page no.
1 Acknowledgem 2
ent
2 Index 3
3 Introduction 4
4 Aim and 5
Apparatus
5 Principle and 6-7
 Construction
6 Theory 8-9
7 Advantages 10
and
Disadvantages
8 Applications 11
9 Sensitivity and 12-13
Accuracy
10 Bibliography 14
 Aim
To study the basic schematic structure of a
moving coil galvanometer and to construct a
functional galvanometer capable of detecting
and measuring small electric currents accurately.

Apparatus
Handcrafted Galvanometer: Thick cardboard,
protractor template, scissors, toothpick/needle,
paper cutter, cotton thread.
 Applications
 Measurement of Small Currents: Moving coil
galvanometers are commonly used to measure
small currents in electrical circuits, making
them valuable tools in physics laboratories and
industries.

 Testing Circuit Components: They can be used

to test the resistance of circuit components like
resistors and conductors, aiding in quality
control and troubleshooting.

 Detection of Electric Charges: Moving coil

galvanometers can detect the presence of
electric charges in objects, which is useful in
experiments related to electrostatics.

 Electromagnetic Field Mapping: By using a

moving coil galvanometer along with a probe,
students can map the magnetic field around
various magnets or current-carrying
conductors.

 Calibration of Instruments: They are used as

standard instruments to calibrate other
measuring devices like ammeters and
voltmeters.

 Physics Demonstrations: Moving coil

galvanometers can be employed in physics
 demonstrations to illustrate principles like
electromagnetic induction, Faraday's law, and
Lenz's law.
These applications provide a practical
understanding of the principles of
electromagnetism and electrical measurements.

Bibliography

www.wikipedia.com
www.geeksforgeeks.org
www.brainkart.com
www.scribd.com