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Unit-II (Topic - 1)

This document provides an overview of measuring instruments, focusing on the principles and workings of analog voltmeters, ammeters, and multimeters, as well as digital instruments. It details the essential requirements for measuring instruments, types of instruments, and the construction and functioning of Permanent Magnet Moving Coil (PMMC) instruments. Additionally, it discusses the multimeter's capabilities and specifications, along with references for further reading.

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Gopika Baskaran
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13 views27 pages

Unit-II (Topic - 1)

This document provides an overview of measuring instruments, focusing on the principles and workings of analog voltmeters, ammeters, and multimeters, as well as digital instruments. It details the essential requirements for measuring instruments, types of instruments, and the construction and functioning of Permanent Magnet Moving Coil (PMMC) instruments. Additionally, it discusses the multimeter's capabilities and specifications, along with references for further reading.

Uploaded by

Gopika Baskaran
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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III- B.

Sc (Physics)
UNIT – II
UNIT - II
Measuring Instrument
Principle and working of Analog Voltmeters, Ammeters – Multimeters –
Digital Instruments – Advantages – Resolution, Sensitivity and Accuracy
Specifications for Digital Meters -Basic digital counter – Frequency
Measurement – Frequency Ratio Measurement – Period Measurement –
Time Interval Measurement – Pulse Width Measurement – Digital
Voltmeters – Basic Principles – Vector Voltmeter – Digital Multimeter -
Fiber Optics Measurements-Pressure and Temperature
Measuring Instrument

CONTENTS
 Principle and working of
Analog Voltmeters, Ammeters, Multimeters
INTRODUCTION
 Analog ammeters and voltmeters are classed together as there are
no fundamental differences in their operating principles.

 In an ammeter the torque is produced by a current to be measured or


by a definite fraction of it.

 In a voltmeter the torque is produced by a current which is


proportional to the voltage to be measured.

 Thus all analog voltmeters and ammeters are essentially voltage &
current measuring devices, respectively.
 The essential requirements of a measuring instrument are :
 (i) That its introduction into the circuit, where measurements are to be
made, does not alter the circuit conditions;
 (ii) The power consumed by them for their operation is small.

 Ammeters are connected in series in the circuit whose current is to be


measured.

 The power loss in an ammeter is I2Ra , where I is the current to be


measured and Ra , is the resistance of ammeter.

 Therefore, ammeters should have a low electrical resistance so that


they cause a small voltage drop and consequently absorb small
power.
 Voltmeters are connected in parallel with the circuit whose voltage is
to be measured.

 The power loss in voltmeters is V2/Rv , where V is the voltage to be


measured and Rv , is the resistance of voltmeter.

 Therefore, voltmeters should have a high electrical resistance, in order


that the current drawn by them is small and consequently the power
consumed is small.

 Ohmmeters are used for measurement of resistance.

 They incorporate a source of emf and a current measuring device.


DC Ammeter
 The Permanent Magnet Moving Coil (PMMC) galvanometer
constitutes the basic movement of a dc ammeter.
 Since the coil winding of a basic movement is small and light, it can
carry only very small currents.
 When large currents are to be measured, it is necessary to bypass a
major part of the current through a resistance called a shunt, as
shown in Fig. 1.
 The resistance of shunt can be calculated using conventional circuit
analysis.
 Referring to Fig. 1,
 Rm = internal resistance of the movement
 Ish = shunt current
 Im = full scale deflection current of the movement
 I = full scale current of the ammeter + shunt (i.e. total current)

Since the shunt resistance is in parallel with the meter movement, the
voltage drop across the shunt and movement must be the same.

Therefore, Vsh = Vm
TYPES OF INSTRUMENTS
The main types of instruments used as ammeters and voltmeters are :

(i) Permanent magnet moving coil (PMMC)


(ii) Moving iron
(iii) Electro-dynamometer
(iv) Hot wire
(v) Thermocouple
(vi) Induction
(vii) Electrostatic
(viii) Rectifier
Of these the permanent-magnet moving-coil type can be used for direct-
current measurements only, and the induction type for alternating-
current measurements only.

The other types of meters can be used with either direct or alternating-
currents.
PERMANENT MAGNET MOVING COIL INSTRUMENT (PMMC)
The permanent magnet moving coil instrument is the most accurate type
for d.c. measurements.

The working principle of these instruments is the same as that of the


d'Arsonval type of galvanometers, the difference being that a direct
reading instrument is provided with a pointer and a scale.

Construction of PMMC Instruments:

The general constructional features of this instrument are shown in


Fig.1.
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZ4qUCY0Tg4

Source:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtBKC6WSjD0
Moving coil:
 The moving coil is wound with many turns of enamelled or silk covered
copper wire.

 The coil is mounted on a rectangular aluminium former which is pivoted on


jewelled bearings.

 The coils move freely in the field of a permanent magnet.

 Most voltmeter coils are wound on metal frames to provide the required
electro-magnetic damping.

 Most ammeter coils, however, are wound on non-magnetic formers, because


coil turns are effectively shorted by the ammeter shunt.

 The coil itself, therefore, provides electro-magnetic damping.


 By further modification of moving
coil, the angular span of scale is
restricted to 90°.

 In order to obtain longer movement


of the pointer and a longer angular
swing of the coil a concentric
magnet construction as shown in
Fig. 2 is used.

 Since the magnet is concentric type


it produces a radial flux pattern
which extends over 250° or more.

 This type of construction is used for Fig. 2: Concentric magnet assembly.


many panel type instruments and
some portable instruments.
 An air cored coil offset
from the axis of rotation is
used as shown in Fig. 3.

 The scale length of the


instrument can be increased
from 120° to 240° or even
300°, thereby giving better
resolution of reading for
the same scale range.

Fig. 3: Long scale moving coil instrument


 In recent years, with the development
of improved magnetic materials like
Alnico, it has become feasible to design
a magnetic system in which the magnet
itself serves as the core as shown in
Fig. 4.

 The moving coil moves over the


magnet.

 The active sides of the moving coil are


located in the uniform radial field
between pole pieces and the steel yoke.

 This arrangement has the obvious


advantage of being relatively
unaffected by the external magnetic Fig. 4: Core magnet construction
fields. Source;: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZ4qUCY0Tg4
Control:
When the coil is supported between two jewel bearings the control torque
is provided by two phosphor bronze hair springs.

These springs also serve to lead current in and out of the coil. The control
torque is provided by the ribbon suspension as shown in Fig. 2.

This method is comparatively new and is claimed to be advantageous as


it eliminates bearing friction.

Damping:

Damping torque is produced by movement of the aluminium former


moving in the magnetic field of the permanent magnet.
Pointer and scale:
The pointer is carried by the spindle and moves over a
graduated scale.

The pointer is of light-weight construction and, apart from


those used in some inexpensive instruments has the section
over the scale twisted to form a fine blade.

This helps to reduce parallax errors in the reading of the scale.


MULTIMETER or VOLT-OHM-MILLI-AMMETER (V.O.M.)
 The ammeter, the voltmeter and the ohmmeter all use a basic d'Arsonval
movement.

 The difference between these instruments is the circuit in which the basic
movement is used.

 It is therefore obvious that an instrument can be designed to perform these


three measurement functions.

 This instrument which contains a function switch to connect the


appropriate circuits to the d'Arsonval movement, is called a "Multimeter''
or "Volt-ohm-milli-ammeter'' (V.O.M.).

 A representative example of a commercial multimeter is the Simpson


model 260 whose complete circuit diagram is shown in Fig. 5.
Fig. 5 Circuit diagram of
Simpson model 260
Multimeter.
Source: https://simpsonelectric.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/260-8-R.jpg
 The meter is a combination of a d.c. milli-ammeter, a d.c. voltmeter, an
a.c. voltmeter, a multirange ohmmeter and an output meter.

 This multimeter uses a d'Arsonval movement that has a resistance of


2000 Ω and a full scale current of 50 Ω.

 The instrument is provided with a selector switch which can be set for
different modes of operation like measurement of voltage, current,
resistance etc., and also for various ranges of these quantities.

 The circuit for d.c. voltmeter section is shown in Fig. 6 when common
input terminals are used for voltage ranges of 0-1.5 V to 0-1000 V.

 The range can be set with the help of a selector switch. An external
voltage jack marked "DC 5000 V" is used for d.c. voltage measurements
upto 5000 V.
 The values of multiplier
resistances are given in the
diagram.

 For use on 5000 V range the


selector switch should be set to
1000 V position but the test lead
should be connected to the
external jack marked "5000 V”.

 The instrument has a sensitivity 6


of 20 kQ/V which is fairly high
and therefore the instrument is
well suited to general service
work in electronic measurements.
 The circuit for measuring d.c. milliampere and ampere is shown in Fig. 7.

 The common (+) terminal and negative (-) terminals are used for current
measurements upto 500 mA. The jacks marked + 10 A and -10 A are used
for 0 - 10 A range.

Fig. 7: Ammeter section of


Simpson Model 260
Multimeter.
Text Books:
1. H. S. Kalsi, “Electronic Instrumentation”, McGraw Hill Education, 4th Edition (2019).
2. Helfrick and Cooper, “Electronic Instrumentation and Measurement Techniques” PHI,
(2009).
3. A. K. Sawhney “Electrical and Electronic Measurements and Instrumentation”, Dhanpat
Rai and Co. (2008).
4. Dinesh K. Aswal and Shiv K. Gupta, “Science and Technology of Chemiresistor Gas
Sensor”, Nova Science Publishers (2007).

References:
1. L. Cromwell, F. J. Werbell and E. A. Pfeiffer, “Biomedical instrumentation and
Measurements”, Prentice-Hall, 2nd Edition (2011).
2. A.J. Bouwens, “Digital Instrumentation”, McGraw Hill Education, (2004).
S. M. Dhir, “Applied Electronics and Instrumentation”, McGraw Hill Education (2002).
Thank you for your Patience Listening

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