Raya University

Collage of Engineering and Technology

Department of Mechanical Eng.

Course name: Instrumentation and Measurement

Target Group: Regular Automotive 4th year Students
Prepared by Gebeya T.(M.Sc. In Mechatronics and Robotics Eng.)
 UNIT THREE
MEASUREMENTS OF RESISTANCE, INDUCTANCE &
CAPACITANCE
1. MEASUREMENT OF RESISTANCE
• Resistance is an opposition to current flow. It’s one of the most basic elements
encountered in electrical and electronics engineering.
• The value of resistance in engineering varies from very small to very high values For
this purpose we categories the resistance into three classes.
 A. Measurement of Low Resistance (<1Ω)
The major problem in measurement of low resistance values is the contact
resistance or lead resistance of the measuring instruments. though being small in
value is comparable to the resistance being measured and hence causes serious error.
Thus to eliminate this issue small valued resistance are constructed with four
terminals. Two terminals are current terminals and other two are potential terminals.
Figure below shows the construction of low resistance.
Where
C1 and C2 are current terminals
V1 and V2 are voltage terminals
E is supplied voltage
The methods employed for measurement of low resistances are:-
1. Kelvin’s Double Bridge Method
2. Ducter Ohmmeter.
1. Kelvin’s Double Bridge
Kelvin’s double bridge is a modification of simple Wheatstone bridge. Figure below shows
the circuit diagram of Kelvin’s double bridge.
Where:
P and Q are resistance on two set of arms
p and q are other resistances on two set of arms
R is the unknown low resistance
S is a standard resistance
r represents the contact resistance b/n the unknown
resistance and the standard resistance, whose effect we
need to eliminate.
For measurement we make the ratio equal to and hence a balanced Wheatstone bridge is
formed leading to null deflection in the galvanometer. Under balance conditions there is no
current through the Galvanometer, which means that the voltage drop between a and d, is equal
to the voltage drop between a and c. Hence for a balanced bridge we can write:
For zero galvanometer deflection,

Substitute Eq (2.3) into Eq (2.2)

, And

• Substitute Eq (2.4) and Eq (2.5) into Eq (2.1)

, cancel like terms and we will get:
,
multiply both sides by the simplified form of the equation becomes:
,
,
by cancelling like terms we will get:
,

,
From Kalvin double bridge we know that and so the equation becomes:
And ………………2.6
Hence, r has no effect on the measurement, we see that by using balanced double arms we
can eliminate the contact resistance completely & hence error due to it. To eliminate another
error caused due to thermo-electric emf, we take another reading with battery connection
reversed and finally take average of the two readings. This bridge is useful for resistances in
range of 0.1μΩ to 1.0 Ω.
Ducter Ohmmeter:
• It is an electromechanical instrument used for measurement of low resistances. It comprises
of a permanent magnet similar to that of a PMMC(permanent magnet moving coil)
instrument and two coils in between the magnetic field created by the poles of the magnet.
• The two coils are at right angles to each other and are free to rotate about the common axis.
Figure below shows a Ducter Ohmmeter and the connections required to measure an
unknown resistance R.
B. Measurement of Medium Resistance (1Ω – 100kΩ)

Following are the methods employed for measuring a resistance whose value is in
the range 1Ω –100kΩ
1.Ammeter-Voltmeter Method
2.Wheatstone Bridge Method
3.Substitution Method

1.Ammeter-Voltmeter Method

This is the most crude and simplest method of measuring resistance.

It uses one ammeter to measure current, I and one voltmeter to measure voltage V
 V-A Method A-V Method
The voltmeter measures voltage drop The ammeter measures the sum of current
across ammeter and the unknown through voltmeter and resistance, hence
resistance, hence +

Where: is the measured resistance

The relative error will be:
=
Where:
 is the measured resistance The relative
error will be:
=
 It can be observed that the relative error is zero for = 0 in first case and = ∞ in
second case. Now the questions stand that which connection to be used in which
case. To find out this we equate both the errors:
= or =
hence for resistances greater than that given by above equation we use the first
method and for less than that we use second method.
 2.Wheatstone Bridge Method
This is the simplest and the most basic bridge circuit used in measurement studies.
 It mainly consists of four arms of resistance P, Q; R and S. R is the unknown resistance
under experiment, while S is standard resistance.
 P and Q are known as the ratio arms. An EMF source is connected between points a and b
while a galvanometer is connected between points c and d.
A bridge circuit always works on the principle of null detection, i.e. we vary a parameter until
the detector shows zero and then use a mathematical relation to determine the unknown in
terms of varying parameter and other constants.
• Here also the standard resistance, S is varied in order to obtain null deflection in the
galvanometer. This null deflection implies no current from point c to d, which implies that
potential of point c and d is same. Hence

Combining the above two equations we get the famous equation:

 3.Substitution Method

The figure below shows the circuit diagram for resistance measurement of an unknown
resistance R. S is a standard variable resistance and r is a regulating resistance.

First the switch is place at position 1 and the ammeter is made to read a certain amount of
current by varying r. The value of ammeter reading is noted. Now the switch is moved to
position 2 and S is varied in order to achieve the same ammeter reading as it read in the initial
case. The value of S for which ammeter reads same as in position 1, is the value of unknown
resistance R, provided the EMF source has constant value throughout the experiment.
 C. Measurement of High Resistance (>100kΩ)
 Following are few methods used for measurement of high resistance values-
1) Loss of Charge Method
2) Megger
3) Megohm bridge Method
4) Direct Deflection Method
We normally utilize very small amount of current for such measurement, but still owing to
high resistance chances of production of high voltages is not surprising. Due to this we
encounter several other problems such as:
1.Electrostatic charges can get accumulated on measuring instruments
2. Leakage current becomes comparable and can cause error
3.Insulation resistance-true value of resistance is not obtained.
4.Protection of delicate instruments from high fields
• Hence to solve the problem of leakage currents or capacitive currents we use a guard circuit
and Loss of Charge Method. The concept of guard circuit is to bypass the leakage current
from the ammeter so as to measure the true resistive current.
• Figure below shows two connections on voltmeter and micro ammeter to measure R, one
without guard circuit and one with guard circuit.
Loss of Charge Method
• In this method we utilize the equation of voltage across a discharging capacitor to find the
value of unknown resistance R. Figure below shows the circuit diagram and the equations
involved are:
 2.MEASUREMENT OF INDUCTANCE
• Inductor is the property of an electric conductor or circuit that
causes an electromotive force to be generated by a change in the
current flowing.
• Inductance is the tendency of an electrical conductor to oppose a
change in the electric current flowing through it. The flow of electric
current through a conductor creates a magnetic field around the
conductor, whose strength depends on the magnitude of the current.
• The methods employed for measurement of inductance are;
1) Maxwell Bridge
2) Hay’s Bridge
3) Anderson Bridge
4) Owen Bridge
Maxwell Bridge
The bridge used for the measurement of self-inductance of the circuit
is known as the Maxwell bridge. It is the advanced form of the
Wheatstone bridge. The Maxwell bridge works on the principle of the
comparison, i.e., the value of unknown inductance is determined by
comparing it with the known value or standard value.

Types of Maxwell’s Bridge

Two methods are used for determining the self-inductance of the
circuit. They are
a. Maxwell’s Inductance Bridge
b. Maxwell’s inductance Capacitance Bridge
 a. Maxwell’s Inductance Bridge
the value of unknown resistance is determined by comparing it with the known value of the standard
self-inductance. The connection diagram for the balance Maxwell Bridge is shown in the figure
below.
L1 – unknown inductance of resistance R1.
L2 – Variable inductance of fixed resistance r1.
R2 – variable resistance connected in series with inductor L2.
R3, R4 – known non-inductance resistance
= , At a balance condition:

The value of the R3 and the R4 resistance varies

from 10 to 1000 ohms with the help of the resistance
box. Sometimes for balancing the bridge
the additional resistance is also inserted into the circuit.
b. Maxwell’s Inductance Capacitance Bridge
• the unknown resistance is measured with the help of the standard variable capacitance. The
connection diagram of the Maxwell Bridge is shown in the figure below.
L1 – unknown inductance of resistance R1.
R1 – Variable inductance of fixed resistance r1.
R2, R3, R4 – variable resistance connected in series with inductor L2.
C4 – known non-inductance resistance
• The equation shows that the bridges have two variables R4 and C4 which appear in one of
the two equations and hence both the equations are independent.
Hay’s Bridge:
The bridge is the advanced form of Maxwell’s bridge and is used for determining
the self-inductance of the circuit.
The Maxwell’s bridge is only appropriate for measuring the medium quality factor.
Hence, for measuring the high-quality factor the Hays Bridge is used in the circuit.
#What is the basic difference between hay’s bridge and Maxwell’s bridge ?
In Hay’s bridge, the capacitor is connected in series with the resistance, the voltage
drop across the capacitance and resistance are varied. And in Maxwell Bridge, the
capacitance is connected in parallel with the resistance. Thus, the magnitude of a
voltage pass through the resistance and capacitor is equal.
 Construction of Hay’s Bridge
The unknown inductor L1 is placed in the arm ab along with the resistance R1. This
unknown inductor is compared with the standard capacitor C4 connected across the
arm cd. The resistance R4 is connected in series with the capacitor C4. The other two
non-inductive resistor R2 and R3 are connected in the arm ad and bc respectively.
The C4 and R4 are adjusted for making the bridge in the
balanced condition. When the bridge is in a balanced
condition, no current flows through the detector which is
connected to point b and c respectively. The potential drops
across the arm ad and cd are equal and similarly, the
potential across the arm ab and bc are equal.
Hay’s Bridge Theory
L1 – unknown inductance having a resistance R1
R2, R3, R4 – known non-inductive resistance.
C4 – standard capacitor
Separating the real and imaginary term, we obtain; For the high-quality factor, the
frequency does not play an important
role.
,

Substituting the value of Q in the

equation of unknown inductance, we
By Solving the above equation, we have get:
the quality factor of the coil as:
For greater value of Q the 1/Q is
neglected and hence the equation
become
The equation of the unknown inductance and
capacitance consists frequency term. Thus for
finding the value of unknown inductance the
frequency of the supply must be known.
 Assignment
1.Anderson’s Bridge 2.Owen’s Bridge
a) Definition and elaboration a) Definition and elaboration
b) Construction b) Construction
c) Theory of Anderson bridge c) Theory of own’s bridge
d) Advantage d) Advantage
e) Disadvantage e) Disadvantage
f) Application area f) Application area
 3. MEASUREMENT OF CAPACITANCE
What is Capacitor? Capacitance?
Capacitor is a passive electronic component with two terminals that stores electrical energy in
an electric field.
Capacitance is The effect of a capacitor in any electrical component.
There are different kinds of methods for measurements of capacitance, such as:
Schering Bridge:
The Schering bridge use for measuring the capacitance of:
1) the capacitor,
2) dissipation factor,
3) properties of an insulator,
4) capacitor bushing,
5) insulating oil and other insulating materials.
 It is one of the most commonly used AC Bridge
The Schering Bridge works on the principle of balancing the load on its arm.

Low Voltage Schering Bridge:

Let
– capacitor whose capacitance is to be
determined,
 – a series resistance, representing the loss
of the capacitor C1.
 – a standard capacitor (The term standard
capacitor means the capacitor is free from
loss)
 – a non-inductive resistance
 – a variable capacitor.
 – a variable non-inductive resistance
parallel with variable capacitor C4.
• When the bridge is in the balanced condition, zero current passes through the detector,
which shows that the potential across the detector is zero.

At balance condition:
• By collecting like terms (equating the real
and imaginary equations) we get:
=
 The dissipation factor(D1= ) obtains with the help of the phasor diagram. The
dissipation factor determines the rate of loss of energy that occurs because of the
oscillations of the electrical and mechanical instrument.

 By the help of the above equation, we can calculate the value of which is the
dissipation factor of the Schering Bridge.
 )
Advantages of Schering Bridge
The following are the advantages of the Schering Bridge.
1. Balance equations are free from frequency.
2. The arrangement of the bridge is less costly as compared to the other
bridges.
High Voltage Schering Bridge
• The low voltage Schering Bridge has several disadvantages, and because of this
reason, the high voltage and high frequency are required for measuring the small
capacitancefeatures of the Schering Bridge.
• The high voltage supply obtains from the operational amplifier.
• The vibration galvanometer use as detector for the bridge.
 The circuit diagram of the Schering Bridge is shown in the figure below.
The high voltage working capacitors are placed in the arms ab and ad.
The impedance of the arm ab and ad are very high
as compared to the arm bc and cd.
The term impedance means the opposition
offered by the circuit in the flow of current.
The point c is earthed.
The impedance of the arm ab and ad is kept high
so that the high supply will not affect the potential
across the arm bc and cd.
The potential across the detector is also kept low.
The power loss is very small in the arms ab and ad because of the high impedance of arms
ab and ad.
Measurement of Relative Permeability with Schering Bridge
The Schering bridge use for measuring the low permeability of the dielectric
material. The relative permeability shows the ability of the material for the
formation of the magnetic field.
 It is calculated with the help of the capacitance and dimension of the electrodes.
The relative permeability of the parallel plate arrangement is expressed as:

– the measured value of capacitance by considering the specimen as a dielectric.

– Spacing between electrodes
– Effective area of electrodes.
– permittivity of free space