CHAPTER 4

DC AND AC BRIDGES

1
 LECTURE CONTENTS
4.1 Introduction
4.2 The DC bridge
4.2.1 Wheatstone Bridge and application
4.2.2 Kelvin Bridge
4.3 AC Bridges And Their Application
4.3.1 Conditions For Bridge Balance
4.3.2 Q Factor of an Inductor
4.3.3 D Factor of a Capacitor
4.3.4 Maxwell Bridge
4.3.5 Hay Bridge
4.3.6 Schering Bridge
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4.1 Introduction

3
 Introduction
• Precision measurements of
components values have been
made for many years using various
forms of bridges.
• Bridges are electrical circuits for
performing null measurements on
resistances in DC (direct current)
and general impedances in AC
(alternating current).
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4.2 The DC bridge

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 The DC bridge
• The simplest form of bridge is for the purpose of
measuring resistance and is called the
Wheatstone bridge.
• There are variations of the Wheatstone bridge
for measuring very high and very low
resistances.
• There is an entire group of ac bridges for
measuring inductance, capacitance, admittance,
conductance, and any of the impedance
parameters.
• General-purpose bridges are hardly used any
more some specialized measurements, such as
impedance at high frequencies is still made with
a bridge.

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 The DC bridge cont…
• The bridge circuit still forms the
backbone of some measurements
and for the interfacing of the
transducers. As an example, there
are fully automatic bridges that
electronically null a bridge to make
precision component
measurements.

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4.2.1 Wheatstone

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 Wheatstone Bridge -
Basic Operation
• Figure 4.1 shows the schematic of a
Wheatstone bridge.
• The bridge has four resistive arms,
together with a source of emf (a battery)
and a null detector, usually a
galvanometer or other sensitive current
meter.
• The current through the galvanometer
depends on the potential difference
between point c and d.
• The bridge is said to be balanced when
the potential difference across the
galvanometer is 0 V so that there is no
current through the galvanometer. 9

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 Wheatstone Bridge -
Basic Operation cont…
a

I1 I 2

R1 R2
E
c G d

R3 R4
I3 I4
b
Figure 4.1 Wheatstone bridge

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 Wheatstone Bridge -
Basic Operation cont…
• This condition occurs when the voltage from
point c to point a equals the voltage from point d
to point a or the voltage from point c to point b
equals the voltage from point d to b. Hence the
bridge is balanced when
I1 R1  I 2 R2 or I 3 R3  I 4 R4---(4.1)

• If the galvanometer current is zero, the following

conditions also exist:
E
I1  I 3  ---(4.2)
R1  R3
• And
E
I2  I4  ---(4.3)
R2  R 4
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 Wheatstone Bridge -
Basic Operation cont…
• Combining Equations. (4.1), (4.2), and (4.3)
simplifying, we obtain
R1 R2
 ---(4.4)
R1  R3 R2  R4

• From which
R1 R4  R2 R3 ---(4.5)

• Hence, if R4 is the unknown resistor, its

resistance RX can be expressed in terms of the
remaining resistors as follows
R2 R3
Rx  ---(4.6)
R1 12

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 Wheatstone Bridge -
Basic Operation cont…
• Resistor R3 is called the standard
arm of the bridge, and resistors R2
and R1 are called the ratio arms.
• The measurement of the unknown
resistance RX is independent of the
characteristics or the calibration of
the null-detecting galvanometer,
provided that the null detector has
sufficient sensitivity to indicate the
balance position of the bridge with
the required degree of precision. 13

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 Wheatstone Bridge -
Measurement Errors
• The Wheatstone bridge is widely
used for precision measurement of
resistance from approximately 1 
to the low megaohm range.
• The main source of measurement
error is found in the limiting errors
of the three known resistors.

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 Wheatstone Bridge -
Measurement Errors cont…
Other errors may include the following:
(i) Insufficient sensitivity of the null detector.
(ii) Changes in resistance of the bridge arms due
to the heating effect of the current through the
resistors.
(iii) Thermal emfs in the bridge circuit or the
galvanometer circuit can also cause problems
when low-value resistors are being measured.
(iv) Errors due to the resistance of leads and
contacts exterior to the actual bridge circuit
play a role in the measurement of very low-
resistance values. These errors may be
reduced by using a Kelvin bridge.
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 a

Wheatstone Bridge -
I1 I 2

R1 R2

Thevenin Equivalent Circuit

E
c G d

R3 R4
I3 I4
b

• To determine whether or not the galvanometer

has the required sensitivity to detect an
unbalance condition, it is necessary to calculate
the galvanometer current.
• Different galvanometers not only may require
different currents per unit deflection (current
sensitivity), but also have a different internal
resistance.
• It is impossible, without prior computation, which
galvanometer will make the bridge circuit more
sensitive to an unbalance condition.
• This sensitivity can be calculated by “solving” the
bridge circuit for a small unbalance.
• The solution is approached by converting the
Wheatstone bridge of Fig 4.1 to its Thevenin
equivalent. 16

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 Wheatstone Bridge -
a

I1 I 2

Thevenin Equivalent Circuit

R1 R2
E
c G d
R3 R4
I3 I4
b
• The Thevenin equivalent circuit is
determined by looking into galvanometer
terminals c and d in Fig 4.1.
• Two steps must be taken to find the
Thevenin equivalent.
• The first step involves finding the
equivalent voltage appearing at terminals
c and d when the galvanometer is
removed from the circuit.
• The second step involves finding the
equivalent resistance.
• The Thevenin, or open-circuit, voltage is
found by referring to Fig. 4.1, 17

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 Wheatstone Bridge -
Thevenin Equivalent Circuit

E rd  E ac  E ad  I 1 R1  I 2 R2 (4.7)

• This is the voltage of the Thevenin

generator.
• The resistance of the Thevenin equivalent
circuit is found by looking back into
terminals c and d and replacing the battery
by its internal resistance.
• The circuit of Fig. 4.2 represents the
Thevenin resistance.
• Notice that the internal resistance, Rs, of
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the battery has been included in Fig, 4.2. 18
 Wheatstone Bridge -
Thevenin Equivalent Circuit
R1 R2

c RS d
R3 R4

Figure 4.2: The Thevenin resistance

• In most cases, the extremely low internal

resistance of the battery can be
neglected.
• Referring to Fig 4.2 shown that a short
circuit exists between points a and b
when the internal resistance of the
battery is assumed to be 0Ω. 19

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 Wheatstone Bridge -
Thevenin Equivalent Circuit
• The Thevenin resistance, looking into
terminals c and d, then becomes
R1 R3 R2 R4
RTH   (4.8)
R1  R3 R2  R4

• The Thevenin equivalent of the Wheatstone bridge circuit therefore

reduces to a Thevenin generator with an emf described by Eq. (4.7)
and and internal resistance given by Eq. (4.8).
• This is shown in the circuit of Fig. 4.3.

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 Wheatstone Bridge -
Thevenin Equivalent Circuit
RTH
c
Ig
ETH
Rg G

d
Figure 4.3 Thevenin equivalent circuit

• When the null detector is now connected to the

output terminals of the Thevenin equivalent circuit,
the galvanometer current is found to be
ETH
Ig  (4.9)
RTH  R g
• where Ig is the galvanometer current and Rg its resistance.
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 Example 4.1
• Figure below shows the schematic
diagram of a Wheatstone bridge with
values of the bridge elements as shown.
• The battery voltage is 5 V and its internal
resistance negligible.
• The galvanometer has a current
sensitivity of 10 mm/A and an internal
resistance of 100 Ω.
• Calculate the deflection of the
galvanometer caused by the 5 Ω
unbalance in arm BC. 22

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 Example 4.1
A

R1 R2
100 W 1000 W

Vs +
D G B
5V -

R3 R4
200 W 2005 W
C

Figure 4.1a

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 Example 4.1 solution
• Bridge balance occurs if arm BC has a
resistance of 2000 Ω. The diagram shows
arm BC as a resistance of 2005 Ω,
representing a small unbalance (<< 2000 Ω).
• The first step in the solution consists of
converting the bridge circuit into its Thevenin
equivalent circuit.
• The Thevenin equivalent is determined with
respect to galvanometer terminals B and D.
• The potential difference from B and D, with
the galvanometer removed from the circuit,
is the Thevenin voltage. 24

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 Example 4.1 solution
Using Eq. (4.7),

The second step of the solution involves finding the

equivalent Thevenin resistance, looking into terminals
B and D, and replacing the battery with its internal
resistance. Since the battery resistance is 0 , the
circuit is represented as shown below
100 W 1000 W
A

D B

C 25
200 W 2005 W
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 Example 4.1 solution
RTH

The Thevenin equivalent circuit as shown in Figure 4.3. When the galvanometer is now connected to the
output terminals of the equivalent circuit, the current through the galvanometer is

The galvanometer deflection is

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 Wheatstone bridge
• Figure below shows the schematic
diagram of a Wheatstone bridge with
values of the bridge elements as shown.
• The battery voltage is 5 V and its internal
resistance negligible.
• The galvanometer has a current
sensitivity of 10 mm/A and an internal
resistance of 100 Ω.
• Calculate the deflection of the
galvanometer caused by the 5 Ω
unbalance in arm BC. 27

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 Kelvin Bridge - Effects of
Connecting Leads
• The Kelvin Bridge is a modification of the
Wheatstone bridge and provides greatly increased
accuracy in the measurement of low-value
resistances, generally below 1 ohm.
• Consider the bridge circuit shown in Fig. 4.4,
where Ry represents the resistance of the
connecting lead from R3 to Rx.

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©asmarashid 2006 Figure 4-4 Wheatstone bridge circuit with Connecting Leads
 Kelvin Bridge - Effects of
Connecting Leads
• Two galvanometer connections are possible, to
point m or point n.
• When the galvanometer is connected to point m,
the resistance Ry of the connecting lead is added
to the unknown Rx, resulting in too high an
indication for Rx.
• When connection is made to point n, Ry is added
to bridge arm R3 and the resulting measurement of
Rx will be lower than it should be, because now the
actual value of R3 is higher than its nominal value
by resistance Ry.

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 Kelvin Bridge - Effects of
Connecting Leads
• If the galvanometer is connected to a point p, in
between the two points m and n, in such a way that
the ratio of the resistances from n to p and from m
to p equals the ratio of resistors R1 and R2, can be
written as follows,
Rnp R1
 (4.10)
Rmp R2
• The balance equation for the bridge yields
R1
R x  Rnp  ( R3  Rmp ) (4.11)
R2
• Substituting Eq. (4.10) into Eq. (4.11),
R1 R1 R2
Rx  ( ) R y  [ R3  ( ) Ry ] (4.12)
R1  R2 R2 R1  R2 30

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 Kelvin Bridge - Effects of
Connecting Leads
• Which reduced to
R1
Rx  R3 (4.13)
R2

• Equation (4.13) is the usual balance equation

developed for the Wheatstone bridge and it
indicates that the effect of the resistance of the
connecting lead from point m to point n has been
eliminated by connecting the galvanometer to the
intermediate position p.
• This development forms the basis for construction
of the Kelvin double bridge, commonly known as
the Kelvin bridge.
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 Kelvin Bridge - Kelvin Double
Bridge
• The term double bridge is used because
the circuit contains a second set of ratio
arms, as shown in the schematic diagram,
connects the galvanometer to a point p at
the appropriate potential between m and n,
and it eliminates the effect of the yoke
resistance Ry.
• An initially established condition is that the
resistance ratio of a and b is the same as
the ratio of R1 and R2.
• The galvanometer indication will be zero
when the potential at k equals the potential
at p, or when Ekl = Elmp, where 32

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 k

Figure 4.5 Basic Kelvin double bridge circuit 33

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 Kelvin Bridge - Kelvin Double
Bridge
where
R2 R2 ( a  b) R y
Ekl  E I [ R3  Rx  ] (4.14)
R1  R2 R1  R2 a  b  Ry

and
b ( a  b) R y
Elmp  I {R3  [ ]} (4.15)
a  b a  b  Ry

solve for Rx by equating Ekl and Elmp in the following manner

R2 ( a  b) R y b ( a  b) R y
I [ R3  R x  ]  I [ R3  . ]
R1  R2 a  b  Ry a  b a  b  Ry

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 Kelvin Bridge - Kelvin Double
Bridge
simplifying
( a  b) R yR1 R3 bR y
R3  R x   [ R3  ]
a  b  Ry R2 a  b  Ry

and expanding the right-hand member yields

( a  b) R y R1 R3 R1 R2 bR y
R3  R x    R3  .
a  b  Ry R2 R2 a  b  R y

Solving for Rx yields

R1 R3 R1 bR y bR y ( a  b) R y
Rx   .  
R2 R2 a  b  R y a  b  R y a  b  R y

so that
R1 R3 bR y R a
Rx   ( 1  ) (4.16) 35
R2 a  b  R y R2 b
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 Kelvin Bridge - Kelvin Double
Bridge
• Using the initially established condition that a/b = R1/R2, Eq. (4.16) reduces to
the well-known relationship

R1
R x  R3 (4.17)
R2

• Equation (4.7) is the usual working equation

for the Kelvin Bridge.
• It indicates that the resistance of the yoke
has no effect on the measurement, provided
that the two sets of ratio arms have equal
resistance ratios. 36

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 Kelvin Bridge - Kelvin Double
Bridge
• The Kelvin Bridge is used for measuring very
low resistances, from approximately 1 Ω to
as low as 0.00001Ω.
• Figure 4.6 shows the simplified circuit
diagram of a commercial Kelvin bridge;
resistance R3 of Eq. (4.7) is represented by
the variable standard resistor in Fig. 4.6.
• The ratio arms (R1 and R2) can usually be
switched in a number of decade steps.

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 Kelvin Bridge - Kelvin Double
Bridge
• The ratio R1/R2 should be selected that a
relatively large part of the standard
resistance is used in the measuring circuit.
• In this way the value of unknown resistance
Rx is determined with the largest possible
number of significant figures, and the
measurement accuracy is improved.

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4.3 AC Bridges And
Their Application

39
 Conditions For Bridge
Balance
• The ac bridge is a natural outgrowth of the
dc bridge and in its basic form consists of
bridge arms, a source of excitation, and a
null detector.
• The power source supplies an ac voltage to
the bridge at the desired frequency.
• For measurements at low frequencies, the
power line may serve as the source of
excitation; at higher frequencies, an
oscillator generally supplies the excitation
voltage.
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 Conditions For Bridge
Balance
• The null detector must respond to ac
unbalance currents and in its cheapest (but
very effective) form consists of a pair of
headphones.
• In other applications, the null detector may
consist of an ac amplifier with an out put
meter, or an electron ray tube (tuning eye)
indicator.
• The general form of an ac bridge is shown in
Fig. 4.6.

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 Conditions For Bridge
Balance
• The four bridge arms Z1, Z2, Z3, and Z4 are
indicated as unspecified impedances and
the detector is represented by headphones.
• As in the case of the Wheatstone bridge for
dc measurements, the balance condition in
this ac bridge is reached when the detector
response is zero, or indicates a null.
• Balance adjustment to obtain a null response
is made by varying one or more of the bridge
arms.

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 Conditions For Bridge
Balance
• The general equation for bridge balance is
obtained by using complex notation for the
impedances of the bridge circuit. (Boldface
type is used to indicate quantities in complex
notation).
• These quantities may be impedances or
admittances as well as voltages or currents.
• The condition for bridge balance requires
that the potential difference from A to C in
Fig 5-10 be zero.

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 44
Figure 4.6 General form of the AC bridge.
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 Conditions For Bridge
Balance
• This will be the case when the voltage drops
from B to A equals the voltage drop from B to
C, in both magnitude and phase. In complex
notation,
E BA  E BC or I1 Z1  I 2 Z 2 (4.18)

• For zero detector current (the balance

condition), the currents are
E
I1  (4.19)
Z1  Z 3
and
E
I2  (4.20)
Z2  Z4
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 Conditions For Bridge
Balance
• Substitution of Eqs. (4.19) and (4.20) into
Eq. (4.18) yields
Z1 Z 4  Z 2 Z 3 (4.21)

• Or when using admittances instead of

impedances
Y1Y4  Y2Y3 (4.22)

• Equation (4.21) is the most convenient form in

most cases and is the general equation for
balance of the ac bridge.
• Equation (4.22) can be used to advantage when
dealing with parallel components in bridge arms.
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 Conditions For Bridge
Balance
• Equation (4.21) states that the product of
impedances of one pair of opposite arms
must equal the product of impedances of the
other pair of opposite arms, with the
impedances expressed in complex notation. If
the impedance is written in the form z = z,
where z represents the magnitude and θ the
phase angle of the complex impedance, Eq
(4.21) can be written in the form

( Z 11 )(Z 4  4 )  ( Z 2  2 )(Z 3  3 ) (4.23)

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 Conditions For Bridge
Balance
• Since in multiplication of complex numbers
the magnitudes are multiplied and the phase
angles added, Eq (4.23) can also be written
as
( Z 1 Z 4 (1   4 )  Z 2 Z 3 ( 2   3 ) (4.24)

• Equation (4.24) shows that two conditions must

be met simultaneously when balancing an ac
bridge. The first condition is that the magnitudes
of the impedances satisfy the relationship

Z1 Z 4  Z 2 Z 3 (4.25)
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 Conditions For Bridge
Balance
•Or, in words:
The products of the magnitudes of the opposite arms must be equal.

•The second condition requires that the phase angles of the impedances
satisfy the relationship

1   4   2   3 (4.26)

•Again, in words:
The sum of the phase angles of the
opposite arms must be equal. 49

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 Conditions For Bridge
Balance
Several types of AC bridges are:-
a. Maxwell Bridge
b. Hay Bridge
c. Schering Bridge and
d. Wein bridge

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 Q Factor of an Inductor
• The quality of an inductor can be defined in
terms of its power dissipation.
• Ideal inductor has zero winding resistance
and therefore zero power dissipated in the
winding.
• However, lossy inductor has a relatively high
winding resistance and dissipates some
power.
• The Quality Factor (Q-factor) of the inductor
is the ratio of the inductive reactance and
resistance at operating frequency.
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 Q Factor of an Inductor
• Using the series equivalent circuit shown
below, the Q factor is given by
X s Ls
Q 
Rs Rs

Figure 4.7 :RL Series equivalent circuit

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 Q Factor of an Inductor
•Using the parallel equivalent circuit shown
below, the Q factor is given by
Rp Rp
Q 
Xp L p

Figure 4.8 : RL Parallel equivalent circuit

•A good inductor has a high quality factor. The Q factor

for typical inductors range from a low of less than 5 to as
high as 1,000 (depends on frequency).
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 D Factor of a Capacitor
• The quality of a capacitor can be defined in terms of its power dissipation.
• A pure capacitance has a dielectric resistance (low leakage current) and virtually zero power dissipated.
• However, lossy capacitor has a relatively low resistance (high leakage current) and dissipates some power.
• The Dissipation Factor (D-factor) is the ratio of the capacitance reactance and resistance at operating frequency.

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 D Factor of a Capacitor
•Using the parallel equivalent circuit shown
below, the D factor is given by
Xp 1
D 
R p C p R p

Figure 4.9: RC Parallel equivalent circuit

•Using the parallel equivalent circuit shown

below, the D factor is given by

Rs
D  C s R s
Xs
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©asmarashid 2006 Figure 4.10 :RL Series equivalent circuit

 D Factor of a Capacitor
• A good (nearly ideal) capacitor has a low
dissipation factor.
• The D factor for typical capacitor range from
0.1 for electrolytic capacitors to less than
0.0001 (depends on frequency).
• Note that the formulas for D and Q are
reciprocal in form: this is a consequence of
how engineers choose to define them.
• For both capacitors and inductors, the ideal Rs
is that should be small and Rp should be large.

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 D Factor of a Capacitor
• Incidentally, in frequency dependent circuits, the
quality factor Q describes how well-tuned the
circuit is.
• This is useful to know when designing, for
example, radio receivers.
• A circuit with a high Q can more easily filter out
unwanted radio stations while giving good
reception of the desired station.
• Since a real inductor has a nonzero resistance, it
is a simple tuned circuit in its own right (as are
real capacitors for the same reason).

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 D Factor of a Capacitor
• It’s important to note that the series and
parallel models have limited ranges of
applicability, and the model inductances Ls
and Lp capacitances Cs and Cp may
themselves vary with frequency in ways that
can only be determined experimentally.

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 Maxwell Bridge
• The Maxwell bridge, whose schematic diagram
is shown in Fig.4.11, measures and unknown
inductance in terms of known capacitance.
• One of the ratio arms has a resistance and a
capacitance in parallel, and it may now prove
some what easier to write the balance
equations using the admittance of arms 1
instead of its impedance.
• Rearranging the general equation for bridge
balance, as expressed in Eq. (4.21),

Z x  Z 2 Z 3Y1 59

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 Maxwell Bridge

Figure 4-11 Maxwell bridge for inductance measurements

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 Maxwell Bridge
• Where Y1 is the admittance of arm 1.
Reference to Fig. 4.11shows that
1
Z 2  R2 ; Z 3  R3 and Y1   jC1
R1

• Substitution of these values in Eq. (4.27) gives

1
Z x  Rx  jLx  R2 R3 (  jC1 ) (4.28)
R1
• Separation of the real and imaginary terms
yields
R2 R3 L x  R2 R3 C1 (4.30)
Rx  (4.29) and 61

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R1
 Maxwell Bridge
• The Maxwell bridge is limited to the
measurement of medium-Q coils (1<Q<10).
• This can be shown by considering the second
balance condition which states that the sum of
the phase angles of one pair of opposite arms
must be equal to the sum of the phase angles
of the other pair.
• Since the phase angles of arm 1 resistive
elements in arm 2 and arm 3 add up to 0°, the
sum of the angles of arm 1 and arm 4 must also
add up to 0°.
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 Maxwell Bridge
• The phase angle of a high-Q coil will be very
nearly 90°(positive), which requires that the phase
angle of the capacitive arm must also be very
nearly 90°(negative).
• This in turn means that the resistance of R1 must
be very large indeed, which can be very
impractical, High-Q coils are therefore generally
measured on the Hay bridge.
• The Maxwell bridge is also unsuited for the
measurement of coils with a very low Q-value
(Q<1) because of balance convergence problems.

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 Maxwell Bridge
• Very low Q-values occurs in inductive resistors,
for example, or in an RF coil if measured at low
frequency.
• As can be seen from the equations for Rx and
Lx, adjustment for inductive balance by R3
upsets the resistive balance by R1 and gives
the effect known as sliding balance.
• Sliding balance describes the interaction
between controls, so that when we balance with
R1 and then with R3, then go back to R1, we
find a new balance point.
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 Maxwell Bridge
• The balance point appears to move or slide
towards its final point after many
adjustments.
• Interaction does not occur when R1 and C1
are used for the balance adjustments, but a
variable capacitor is not always suitable.
• The usual procedure for balancing the
Maxwell bridge is by first adjusting R3 for
inductive balance and then adjusting R1 for
resistive balance.

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 Maxwell Bridge
• Returning to the R3 adjustment, we find that
the resistive balance is being disturbed and
moves to a new value.
• This process is repeated and gives slow
convergence to final balance.
• For medium-Q coils, the resistance effect is
not pronounced, and balance is reached
after a few adjustments.

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 Hay Bridge
• The Hay bridge of Fig 4.12 differs from the Maxwell
bridge by having resistor R1 in series with standard
capacitor C1 instead of in parallel.
• It is immediately appearing that for large phase
angles, R1 should have a very low value.
• The Hay circuit is therefore more convenient for
measuring high-Q coil.
• The balance equations are again derived by
substituting the values of the impedances of the
bridge arms into the general equation for bridge
balance.
• For the circuit of Fig 4.12,

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 Figure 4.12: Hay Bridge for inductance measurements

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 Hay Bridge
•For the circuit of Fig 4.12
j
Z 1  R1  ; Z 2  R2 ; Z 3  R3 ; Z x  R x  jL x
C1

•Substituting these values in Eq (4.21),

j
( R1  )( R x  jL x )  R2 R3
C1

•Which expands to
Lx jR x
R1 R x    jL x R1  R2 R3
C1 C1

•Separating the real and imaginary terms,

Lx Rx
R1 R x   R2 R(4.32)
3 and  L x R1(4.33)
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C1 C1
 Hay Bridge
•Both Eq. (4.32) and (4.33) contain Lx and Rx
and solve these equations simultaneously and
yields
2
 2 C1 R1 R2 R3
Rx  (4.34)
1   2 C12 R12
C1 R2 R3
Lx  (4.35)
1   2 C12 R12
X L L x
tan  L   Q (4.36)
R Rx

and that of the capacitive phase angle is

Xc 1
tan  c   (4.37)
R C1 R1 70

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 Hay Bridge
•When the two-phase angles are equal, their
tangents are also equal and we can write
1
tan  L  tan  c  (4.38)
C1 R1

• Returning now to the term (which

1   2 Cappears
2 2
1 R1 )
in Eqs,
(4.34) and (4.35), we find that, after submitting Eq. (4.38)
in the expression for Lx Eq (4.35) reduces to

R2 R3 C1
Lx  (4.39)
1  (1 / Q ) 2

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 Hay Bridge
•For a value of Q greater than ten, the term (1/Q) 2 will be smaller than 1/100 and can
be neglected.
•Equation (4.35) therefore reduces to the expression derived for the Maxwell bridge,

L x  R2 R3 C1

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 Hay Bridge
• The Hay bridge is suited for the measurement of high-Q inductors,
especially for those inductors having a Q greater than 10.
• For Q-values smaller than 10, the term (1/Q)2 becomes important and
cannot be neglected. In this case, the Maxwell bridge is more suitable.

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 Schering Bridge
• The Schering Bridge, one of the most important ac bridges, is used extensively for the measurement of
capacitors.
• Although the Schering Bridge is used for capacitance measurements in a general sense, it is particularly
useful for measuring insulating properties, i.e, for phase angles very nearly 90°.
• The basic circuit arrangement is shown in Fig 4.14, and inspection of the circuit shows a strong
resemblance to the comparison bridge.

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 Figure 4.14 Schering bridge for the measurement of capacitance

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 Schering Bridge
• Notice that arm 1 now contains a parallel combination of a resistor and a capacitor, and the standard arm
contains only a capacitor.
• The standard capacitor is usually a high-quality mica capacitor for general measurement work or an air
capacitor for insulation measurements.
• A good-quality mica capacitor has very low losses (no resistance) and therefore a phase angle of
approximately 90°.

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 Schering Bridge
• An air capacitor, when designed carefully, has a very stable
value and a very small electric field; the insulating material
to be tested can easily be kept out of any strong fields.

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 Schering Bridge
• The balance conditions require that the sum
of the phase angles of arms 1 and 4 equals
the sum of the phase angles of arms 2 and
3.
• Since the standard capacitor is in arm 3, the
sum of the phase angles of arm 2 and arm 3
will be 0° + 90° = 90°.

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 Schering Bridge
• In order to obtain the 90° - phase angle
needed for balance, the sum of the angles of
arm 1 and arm 4 must equal 90°, it is
necessary to give arm 1 the unknown will
have a phase angle smaller than 90°, it is
necessary to give arm 1 a small capacitive
angle by connecting capacitor C1 in parallel
with resistor R1.
• A small capacitive angle is very easy to
obtain, requiring a small capacitor across
resistor R1.
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 Schering Bridge
• The balance equations are derived in the
usual manner, and by substituting the
corresponding impedance and admittance
values in the general equation,
j j 1
Z x  Z 2 Z 3Y1 or Rx   R2 ( )(  jC1 )
C 3 C 3 R1
expanding,
j R2 C1 jR2
Rx    (4.40)
C 3 C3 C 3 R1

C1
R x  R2 (4.41) Real term
C3
R1
C x  C3 (4.42) Imaginary term 80
R2
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 Schering Bridge
• As can be seen from the circuit diagram of
Fig.4.13, the two variables chosen for the
balance adjustment are capacitor C1 and
resistor R2.
• There seems to be nothing unusual about
the balance equations or the choice of
variable components, but consider for a
moment how the quality of a capacitor is
defined.

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 Schering Bridge
• The power factor (PF) of a series RC
combination is defined as the sine of the
phase angle of the circuit.
• Therefore the PF of the unknown equals
PF = Rx/Zx.
• For phase angles very close to 90°, the
reactance is almost equal to the impedance
and we can approximate the power factor to

Rx
PF   C x R x (4.43)
Xx

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 Schering Bridge
• The dissipation factor of a series RC circuit is
defined as the cotangent of the phase angle
and therefore, definition, the dissipation
factor
Rx
D  C x R x (4.44)
Xx
• Incidentally, since the quality of a coil is defined by
Q = XL/RL, we find that the dissipation factor, D, is
the reciprocal of the quality factor, Q, and
therefore D = 1/Q. The dissipation factor tells us
something about the quality of a capacitor; i.e.,
how close the phase angle of the capacitor is to
the ideal value of 90°. 83

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 Schering Bridge
• By substituting the value of Cx in Eq (4.42)
and of Rx in Eq (4.41) into the expression for
the dissipation factor,

D  C1 R1 (4.45)

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GAME OVER

85