Republic of the Philippines

MINDANAO UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

C.M. Recto, Lapasan Cagayan de Oro City

LOW, HIGH, AND PRECISE RESISTANCE

MEASUREMENTS
EE45- INSTRUMENTATION AND ENGINEERING CONTROL

SUBMITTED TO:
ENGR. JOHN REY BAJUYO

SUBMITTED BY:
MABANTA, CHRIS DILON F.

SEPTEMBER 2016

INTRODUCTION

The quantitative determination of that property of an electrically conductive material, component, or circuit called electricalresist
ance. The ohm, which is the International System (SI) unit of resistance, is defined through the application of Ohm'slaw as the ele
ctric resistance between two points of a conductor when a constant potential difference of 1 volt applied tothese points produces i
n the conductor a current of 1 ampere. Ohm's law can thus be taken to define resistance R as theratio of dc voltage V to current.

VOLTMETER METHOD
V1, V2 and V3 are the three voltmeters and R is a non-inductive resistance
connected in series with the load as shown in figure.

From the phasor diagram, we have:

AMMETER METHOD

From the above equation it is clear the true value of the resistance will be equal to the measured value only when the
voltmeter resistance is equal to the infinite. However, if the resistance of the voltmeter is very large as compared to the
resistance under measurement:

WHEATSTONE BRIDGE
For measuring accurately any electrical resistance Wheatstone bridge is widely
used. There are two known resistors, one variable resistor and one unknown
resistor connected in bridge form as shown below. By adjusting the variable
resistor the current through the Galvanometer is made zero. When the current
through the galvanometer becomes zero, the ratio of two known resistors is
exactly equal to the ratio of adjusted value of variable resistance and the value
of unknown resistance. In this way the value of unknown electrical resistance
can easily be measured by using a Wheatstone Bridge.

The general arrangement of Wheatstone bridge circuit is shown in the figure below. It is a four arms bridge circuit where arm
AB, BC, CD and AD are consisting of electrical resistances P, Q, S and R respectively. Among these resistances P and Q are
known fixed electrical resistances and these two arms are referred as ratio arms. An accurate and sensitive Galvanometer is
connected between the terminals B and D through a switch S 2.
The voltage source of this Wheatstone bridge is connected to the terminals A and C via a switch S 1 as shown. A variable resistor S
is connected between point C and D. The potential at point D can be varied by adjusting the value of variable resistor. Suppose
current I1 and current I2 are flowing through the paths ABC and ADC respectively. If we vary the electrical resistance value of
arm CD the value of current I2 will also be varied as the voltage across A and C is fixed. If we continue to adjust the variable
resistance one situation may comes when voltage drop across the resistor S that is I 2.S is becomes exactly equal to voltage drop
across resistor Q that is I1.Q. Thus the potential at point B becomes equal to the potential at point D hence potential difference
between these two points is zero hence current through galvanometer is nil. Then the deflection in the galvanometer is nil when
the switch S2 is closed. Now, from Wheatstone bridge circuit
and

Again potential of point D

in respect of point C is nothing
but the voltagedrop across the
resistor S and this is

Now potential of point B in respect

of point C is nothing but the voltage
drop across the resistor Q and this is

Equating, equations (i)

and (ii) we get,

LOW RESISTANCE MEASUREMENT

measurement technique for low resistance is illustrated in Figure 1. A current of known value is caused to run
through the resistor of interest. A voltmeter is used to measure drop across the resistor INSIDE the current connections. Ohms
law is used to calculate the resistance value. This technique eliminates effects of test equipment lead and probe resistance.

LOW RESISTANCE MEASURING INSTRUMENTS

A milliohmmeter is a precision instrument for measuring the variety of the smallest resistance values in different circuits. The
milliohmmeter takes its name from the Ohm, the unit for electrical resistance. Milliohmmeters are used instead of conventional
ohmmeters where they are required to measure resistance limits at the lower end of the scale, of only a few ohms. At this level the
intrinsic resistance of the ohmmeter , the leads and contacts, can distort the readings and affect the results. For precise
measurement of such small resistances only a milliohm meter can be used. The modern meters usually have both digital read outs
as well as LCD displays. Micro-ohm meters can be included in the measurement range if they have a high degree of accuracy
The Microohmmeter is a high precision, fully automatic, microprocessor measuring very low resistance. This system is designed
for highly accurate readings on-site with laboratory precision. This newly designed technique of measurement incorporates a high
precision measurement circuit and modular power source. Extensive filtering and high precision standards are used within the test
system.

HIGH RESISTANCE MEASUREMENT

The basic configuration of the constant voltage method is shown in Figure 1.
In
this method, a constant voltage source, V, is placed in series with the unknown
resistor, R, and an electrometer ammeter, A. Since the voltage drop across an
electrometer ammeter is negligible, essentially all the voltage appears across
R.
The resulting current is measured by the ammeter and the resistance is
calculated using Ohms law, R=V/I.

The basic configuration for the constant current method is shown in the figure.
Current from the constant current source, I, flows through the unknown
resistance, R, and the voltage drop is measured by the electrometer voltmeter,
V. Using this method, resistances up to about 10 14 can be measured. Even
though the basic procedure seems simple enough, some precautionary
measures must be taken.

HIGH RESISTANCE MEASURING INSTRUMENTS

The settling time of the circuit is particularly important when making high resistance measurements. The settling time of the
measurement is affected by the shunt capacitance, which is due to the connecting cable and test fixturing. The shunt capacitance
must be charged to the test voltage by the current (IS). When measuring very high resistance values, the settling time can range
up to minutes, depending on the amount of shunt capacitance in the test system. In order to minimize settling times when
measuring high resistance values, keep shunt capacitance in the system to an absolute minimum by keeping connecting cables as
short as possible. Also, guarding may be used to decrease settling times substantially. Finally, the source voltage, measure current
method of resistance measurement is generally faster because of reduced settling times

Republic of the Philippines

MINDANAO UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
C.M. Recto, Lapasan Cagayan de Oro City

INDUCTANCE AND CAPACITANCE

MEASUREMENTS
EE45- INSTRUMENTATION AND ENGINEERING CONTROL

SUBMITTED TO:
ENGR. JOHN REY BAJUYO

SUBMITTED BY:
MABANTA, CHRIS DILON F.

SEPTEMBER 2016
RC AND RL EQUIVALENT CIRCUITS
CAPACITOR EQUIVALENT CIRCUITS
CIRCUITS

AC BRIDGE THEORY

INDUCTOR EQUIVALENT

CAPACITANCE BRIDGES

INDUCTANCE BRIDGES

MEASURING SMALL C, R, AND L QUANTITIES

MULTIFUNCTION IMPEDANCE BRIDGE

All but one of the capacitance and inductance
bridges discussed in the preceding sections can be
constructed using a standard capacitor and three
adjustable standard resistors. The sinele exception
is the inductance comparison bridge (Figure 8-8).
Figure 8-11 shows the circuits of five different
bridges constructed from the four basic
components. These are a Wheatstone bridge, a
series-resistance capacitance bridge, a parallelresistance capacitance bridge, a Maxwell bridge,
and a Hay bridge. Al1 five circuits are normalll'
provided in commercial impedance bridges. Such
instruments contain the four basic components
and appropriate switches to set the components
into any one of the fir'e configurations. A null
detector and internal ac and dc supplies are also
usually included.

When measuring very small quantities of C L, or R, the strcty capacitance, inductance, and resistance of connecting leads can
introduce considerable errors. This is minimized by connecting the unknown component directly to the bridge terminal or by
means of very short connecting leads. Even when such precautions are observed, there are still srnall internal L, C, and R
quantities in all instruments. These are termed residuals, and instrument manufacturers normally list the residuals on the
specification. A typical impdance bridge has residuals of R = I x l0-3 ,f), C = 0.5 pf', and L = 0.2 pH. Obviously, these quantities
can introduce serious errors if they are a substantial percentage of any measured quantify. The errors introduced by strays and
residuals can be eliminated by a substitutiott technique (see Figure 8-12). In the case of a capacitance measurement, the bridge is
first balanced with a larger caiacitor connected in place of the small capacitor to be measured. The small capacitor is then
connected in parallel with the larger capacitor, and the bridge is readjusted for balance. The first measurement is the large
capacitance C1 plus the stray and residual capacitance C". So the measured capacitance is C, + C". When the small capacitor C. is
connected, the measured capacitance is C, + C" + C,. C, is found by subtracting the first measurement from the second. A similar
approach is used for measurements of low value inductance and resistance, except that in this case the low value component must
be connected in serie.s with the larger L or R quantity. The substitution technique can also be applied to other (nonbridge)
measurement methods.

DIGITAL L, C AND R MEASUREMENTS

INDUCTANCE MEASUREMENT
It is seen that the voltage developed across L is directly proportional to the inductive irnpedance. A phase-sensitive detector is
employed to resolve the inductor voltage into quadrature and in-phase voltages. These two components represent the series
equivalent circuit of the measured inductor The voltages are fed to digital measuring circuits to display the series equivalent
circuit inductance 1., the dissipation fac&x (D = llQl, and/or the O factor.
CAPACITANCE MEASUREMENT
Capacitive impedance is treated in a similar way to inductive impedance, except that the input voltage is developed across the
capacitor and the output voltage is measured across the resistor.

DIGITAL RCL METER

The digital RCL meter shown in Figure 8-i5 can measure inductance, capacitance, resistance, conductance, and dissipation factor.
The desired function is selected by push button. The range switch is normally set to the automatic (AUTO) position for
convenience. However, when a number of similar measurements are to be made, it is faster to use the appropriate range instead of
the automatic range selection. The numerical value of the - measurement is indicated on the 3]-digit display, and the multiplier
and measured quantity are identified by LED indicating lamps. Four (current and potential) terminals are provided for connection
of the component to be measured. (See Section'7-4 for four-terminal resistors.) For general use each pair of current and voltage
terminals are joined together at two spring clips (known as Kelvin clips) which facilitate quick connection of components. A
ground terminal for guard-ring measurements (sec Section 7-6) is provided at the rear of the instrument. The ground terminal
together with the other four terminals is said to give the instrument. Five terminal measurement capability. Bias terminals are also
available at the rear of the instrument, so that a bias current can be passed through an inductor or a bias voltage applied to a
capacitor during measurement. For R, L, C, and G, typical measurement accuracies ap +[0.257o + (1 + 0.002 R, L, C, or G)
digits; for D, the measurement accuracy is +(ZVo + 0.010)

Q METER
Inductors. Capacitors, and resistors which have
to operate at radio frequencies (RF) cannot
be measured satisfactorily at lower frequencies.
Instead, resonance methods are employed in
which the unknown component may be tested
at or near its normal operating frequency.
The Q meter ts designed for measuring the
Q factor of a coil anci for measuring inductance,
capacitance, and resistance at RF.
The basic circuit of a Q meter shown in Figure 8-17
consists of a variable calibrated capacitor, a variablefrequency ac voltage source, and the coil to be investigated. All are connected in series. The capacitor voltage (V) and the source
voltage (E) are monitored by voltmeters. The source is set to the desired measuring frequency, and its voltage is adjusted to a
convenient level. Capacitor C is adjusted to obtain resonance, as indicated.