TEMPERATURE MEASUREMENT USING A WHEATSTONE BRIDGE

A Wheatstone bridge is a circuit used for resistance measurements. Four resistances (R1,
R2, R3 and Rx) are connected end to end with each other to form a closed loop. A sensitive
galvanometer "G" (which is measuring current) is connected between their junctions as
shown. When the voltage drop between points P1 and P2 is zero, the current measured by the
galvanometer is zero. In this case the bridge is said to be balanced. The voltage drop between P1
and P2 points is given by:
U P1P2 =

R1 RX R2 R3
( R1 + R2 ) ( RX + R3 )

When the bridge is balanced ( U P1P2 = 0 ) it results that R1Rx=R2R3, and hence we can
calculate the value of the unknown resistor. In practice, the unknown resistor is often replaced by
a resistive transducer (i.e. thermistors). This is a useful method to perform electric measurements
of non-electric quantities (i.e. temperature) If we want to measure the temperature by the means
of a thermistor and a bridge, we have to connect it in one of the bridges leg and plot the
characteristic of voltage as a function of temperature. Thus, temperature variations are translated
into voltage variations.

The thermistor is a temperature-sensitive resistor. There are several different types:

Figure 2 Thermistor types

The resistance of most common types of thermistor decreases as the temperature rises.
They are called negative temperature coefficient, or ntc, thermistors. Note the -t next to the
circuit symbol. A typical ntc thermistor is made using semiconductor metal oxide materials.
(Semiconductors have resistance properties midway between those of conductors and insulators.)
As the temperature rises, more charge carriers become available and the resistance falls.They
have one outstanding advantage over all other resistance thermometers, namely very high
sensitivity. It is not difficult to build thermistor thermometers with sensitivities of 50mVC1 or
more, more than 100 times that of most platinum thermometers and more than 1000 times that of
most thermocouples. They are also very small and fast.
An approximate equation relating the resistance of the NTC thermistor to temperature is
R(T ) = Aexp(B/T )
The main disadvantages of thermistors include the extreme non-linearity of the resistance
with temperature, limited operating temperature range (only up to 100-200 degrees), self-heating.
Liniarization of this characteristic may be accomplished with analog circuitry or by application
of mathematics using digital computation.
Advantages: large resistance change with temperature, fast response time.
The best thermistors are glass-encapsulated or epoxy-encapsulated beads, which are
available with an interchangeability of 0.1 C.

A thermocouple is made up of two dissimilar metals, joined together at one end, that produce a
voltage (expressed in millivolts) with a change in temperature.
Practical work:
The main objective is to find the dependence of the thermistors resistance on the
temperature. In order to determine it, the following procedure should be followed: make the
connections of the resistive bridge. The bridge is supplied from a 2V DC source. Rx is the
resistance of the thermistor. The termistor is heated from another resistances which is supplied
with a variable DC voltage, from 0 to 6V (increasing the voltage, we increase the current through
the resistance and, in consequence, the power dissipation (heat)). In order to know the
temperature, we use a thermocouple, placed near thermistor. Well use a voltmeter to measure
the unbalance voltage of the bridge. Well also use an A-meter to measure the current through
the thermistor (so, the A-meter should be connected in series with the thermistor). The V-meter
which measures the unbalnce voltage, will also measure the voltage on the thermistor. Knowing
the current and voltage, we get the resistance of the thermistor for each value of the temperature
and we have characterized our thermistor. Secondly, the graph of the unbalnce voltage as a
function of temperature should be plotted. The bridge is mainly a transducer = it translates the
temperature variations into voltage variations. How should, ideally, vary the voltage with
temperature?