Lab Report
Lab Report
Lab Report
Galvanometer
A) Voltmeter Design Using Galvanometer
B) Ammeter Design Using Galvanometer
C) Determine The Internal Resistance of a Voltage Source
Pre Lab
A galvanometer is a sensitive device which can measure very small currents accurately.
A galvanometer itself may not be very useful for measuring currents in most of the
circuits where current is usually in milli amperes. However by slight alterations a
galvanometer can be converted into a voltmeter or an ammeter with a reasonably larger
range. It is basically a current measuring device but by knowing its internal resistance
and using ohm’s law we can use it to measure voltage across a circuit element. However
such a usage of galvanometer has two serious limitations.
The design of the voltmeter as explained in the theory section has two constraints:
1) The actual value of the internal resistance (Rm) of the galvanometer is unknown.
2) If found the actual value of internal resistance (Rm) still, it would be really fortuitous
if the calculated value of the resistance R is actually present in the laboratory.
So to overcome these two constraints a circuit as shown in figure 5.1 is build. A variable
resistance (1 MΩ) has to be attached in series with the galvanometer. The value of the
variable resistance is slowly varied until maximum deflection of the galvanometer is
achieved, thus our voltmeter design is complete and calibrated for -5 to +5 volt
measurement.
Measurement of the internal resistance of Galvanometer:
To calculate the actual value of the internal resistance of the galvanometer:
1) Measure the voltage across the sensitive galvanometer (vg) in the circuit shown in
figure 5.1 using DMM, and record the value in Table 5.1.
2) Measure the current flowing through the galvanometer (ig) in the circuit shown in
figure 5.1, and record the value in Table 5.1.
3) Write down in the calculated and measured value of the internal resistance Rm.
4) Determine the calculated value of R using eq. (5.2). Use DMM to measure the value
of series resistance R and make a note in Table 5.1.
The design of the ammeter as explained in the theory section has two constraints: First,
actual value of the internal resistance (Rg) of the galvanometer is unknown. Second, if
found the actual value of internal resistance (Rg) still it would be really fortuitous if the
calculated value of the resistance Rs is actually present in the laboratory. So we would
make a circuit as shown in figure 5.4. A variable resistance R of 1kΩ has to be attachedin
parallel with the galvanometer. The value of the variable resistance is slowly varied until
maximum deflection of the galvanometer is achieved, thus our ammeter design is
complete and calibrated for 0 to 10 mA measurement. You can verify that the designed
ammeter can measure current up to 10 mA by finding the total current flowing through
10V source using the DMM.
(5.5)
(5.6)
Where vl is the voltage and il is the current associated with the load resistance Rl.
In Lab
Objective
To convert a sensitive galvanometer into a voltmeter (measurement range: -5 volts to
+5 volts)
To convert a sensitive galvanometer into a ammeter (measurement range: 0 to 10
milli-amperes)
To verify that voltages and currents measured by designed voltmeter and ammeter are
comparable to that measured by Digital Multimeter
To determine the internal resistance of voltage source
Equipment Required
Galvanometer, Variable resistor / potentiometer, Resistors, DMM, breadboard, DC power
supply, and connecting wires.
Knowledge Level
Before working on this lab, students should have good understanding of how the
devices ammeter, voltmeter and galvanometer work.
Students should be able to theoretically solve the circuit shown in circuit diagrams.
Measurement Table 1:
V measured by the designed voltmeter V measured by the DMM %
Value of resistance (Ω)
(V) (V) difference
Table 5.2
Measurement Table 2:
Value of Current measured by the Current measured by % difference
resistance (Ω) designed ammeter (A) the DMM (A)
Table 5.3
Measurement Table 3:
Value of the test resistance Measured value of the Measured value of the voltage
Rx (Ω) current through Rx, ix (A) across Rx, vx(V)
1k 5mA 5
∞ (open circuit) 0A 6
Post Lab
Questions:
1. What do you mean by short and open circuit? What are the values of voltages
and currents in open and short circuits?
A short circuit (sometimes abbreviated to short or s/c) is an electrical circuit that allows
a current to travel along an unintended path with no or very low electrical impedance.
This results in an excessive current flowing through the circuit.
A short circuit implies that the two terminals are externally connected with resistance
R=0, the same as an ideal wire. This means there is zero voltage difference for any
current value. And current is maximum.
Hence in an open circuit, the current flowing through the circuit is zero, and voltage is
present (non zero), and the current is equal to zero.
A voltmeter measures voltage difference between two different points, but it should not
between those two points. So, it should have very high resistance so that it does not allow
current to pass through it.
The basic motivation behind converting galvanometer into ammeter is, it has very small
resistance and is connected in series. A galvanometer can detect only small current. Thus,
to measure large current it is connected into an ammeter.
Conclusion:
In this lab we learnt to build ammeter and voltmeter using galvanometer. Galvanometer is
used to measure very small currents, which is reason behind converting it into ammeter.
Galvanometer can be converted into voltmeter by adding a variable resistance and into
ammeter by adding a shunt resistance along with variable resistance.
DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL & COMPUTER ENGINEERING
EEE 2
ELECTRICAL CIRCUIT ANALYSIS – I
LAB REPORT 5
Submitted to:
Dr. Obaid Ur Rehman
Submitted By:
Ahmed Hasan
(FA22-EEE-004)