International Islamic University, Islamabad

Instrumentation & Measurement LAB

EXPERIMENT # 04: Introduction to Galvanometers (DC Voltmeter)

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Introduction to Galvanometers (DC Voltmeter)

1. Objective To design and construct a DC Voltmeter from a normal galvanometer and then analyze the loading effect of connecting a voltmeter on a simple circuit. 2. Equipment Required DMM DC Power Supply Bread Board Galvanometer Wires Resistors: as needed 3. Introduction Galvanometer is an instrument used to indicate the presence, direction, or strength of a small electric current. The typical galvanometer is a sensitive laboratory instrument used mainly to detect and compare currents. It is used for DC measurements and is one of the earliest measuring instrument mechanisms.

3.1 Specifications of a Galvanometer Galvanometers are specified with certain full scale deflection Ifsd (e.g. 1mA) and internal resistance Rg (e.g. 100).

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3.2 Voltmeter Galvanometers can be turned into voltmeters if they are connected with a suitably high series resistance. The purpose of the series resistance is to limit the current through the meter and extend the range to measure voltage.

3.3 Multi-Range Voltmeter The addition of a number of multipliers, together with a range switch, provides the instrument with a workable number of voltage ranges. For a four-range voltmeter, we find the resistances as:

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3.4 Loading Effect Each voltmeter has a certain input impedance. When a voltmeter is used to measure the voltage across a circuit component, the voltmeter circuit itself is in parallel with the circuit component. Total resistance will decrease, so the voltage across component will also decrease. This is called voltmeter loading. The resulting error is called a loading error. The voltmeter loading can be reduced by using a high sensitivity voltmeter.

4. Procedure 1. First of all, find the parameters of galvanometer. Use DMM to find Rg and then connect the galvanometer in series with a potentiometer and power supply. Change the value of potentiometer (or the input supply) slowly until you get full deflection on the galvanometer. Measure the input voltage and potentiometer resistance and put in the following equation to find I fsd.

2. For the ranges of 10V, 20V, 50V and 100V for given galvanometer, calculate and note down multiplier resistors R1, R2, R3 and R4. Remember as the value of multiplier resistor increases, less current flows through the galvanometer and therefore the range is increased. 3. Using the closest values of the resistor, construct the voltmeter. 4. Generate test voltages at about 80% of the ranges using suitable supply. 5. Take the readings using the constructed voltmeter and then with DMM for comparison.

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6. Construct the above circuit. Take those values of R1 and R2 that are comparable to the multiplier resistances. First measure using the DMM (which has higher input impedance) and then measure using the constructed voltmeter. Record the values in the table.

5. Observations Test Data Sr No. 1. 2. 3. V (Range) V (Applied) V (Read) Range - 4 Range - 3 Range - 2 Range - 1

Input Data Sr No. 1. 2. 3. Parameter Vin R1 R2 Page 5 Nominal Value Measured Value

Instrumentation & Measurement Lab (EE-304L)

Output Data Sr No. Parameter Equation

1.

Vout

2.

R2 || RV

3.

Vout Loaded

4.

%age Error Load Voltmeter (constructed)

Sr No.

Parameter

Unloaded

Load - DMM

1. 2. 3.

Vout (Calc) Vout (Read) %age Error

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