EXPERIMENT:WHEATSTONE BRIDGE

OBJECTIVES

a.To be able analyze a basic Wheatstonebridge in a balanced condition andto

apply Thevenim’s theorem to an unbalanced bridge.

b. to measure voltages in an unbalanced Wheatstone’s bridge for different

configurations.|

EQUIPMENTS :

a.DC power supply |

b. Breabboard
c. 1 resistors of 2.7kΩ
d. 1 resistors of 3.3kΩ
e. 1 resistors of 1.2kΩ
f.1potentiometers of 10kΩ

THEORY:

The bridge circuits were used as the most accurate devices for the measurements of resistance (and
generally impedance).Nowadays, the bridged circuits are not as important as they used to be , because new,
more effective methods of empedance measurement are develop. The bridge circuits are commonly used as
a resistance (impedance) to voltages converters and the bridge principal is utilized in digital RCL meters.

Two main bridged circuits:supplied by the voltage source or the current source are presented in figure 1
 Figure 1:The bridge circuit: a)supplied by the voltage source b)suppplied by the current source

For the bridge circuits presented figure 1 the dependence of the output Voltage Uout on the circuit
parameters are as follows:

formula (1.1) And (1.2)

when the load empedance is infinity large (no-load state) we can write the dependences (1.1) and (1.2)
as:
 formula (1.3) and (1.4)

Thus the conditions of the balance Uout = 0 of the bridge circuit is

Formula (1.5)

The conditions (1.5) is universal conditions for all bridge circuits, and can be described as: the bridge circuit
is in the balanced state when the product of the oposite impedances are the same.

The bridge circuits are used in two main modes of operations: as balanced (null type) circuit
(Warsza 20005a) or as unbalanced (deflection type) circuit (Warsza 2005b).The null types bridge circuit is
balanced by the setting of one or more impedances to obtain the state Uout = 0 and then measured value of
impedance Zx = Z1 is determined from the equation

1.6

In the deflection type of bridge circuit we first balance the bridge circuit and then we can determined the
change of resistance from the output signal as
 1.7

Thus the unbalanced bridge circuits operates as the transduser of the change of impedance of the voltage (S
is the sensitivity coefficient of the unbalanced bridge circuit)

The Wheatstone Bridge circuit presented in figure 1 is usually used as the DC bridge circuit. The
condition of the balance for such circuit is

(1.8)

Usually,the ratio of resistances R3/R4 is set in sequence : 0.001-0.010.1-1-10 etc. And in this way the
range of the bridge circuit is changed. The adjusting resistor R2 is used for balancing the bridge circuit
and the value of measured resistor Rx can be determined directly from the equation (1.8).

The uncertainty of the determination of the measured value of Rx on the accuracy of the component
resistors. According tio equations (1.1) from (1.8) we obtain

(1.9)
 Figure 2:The Wheatstone Bridge Circuit

The quality of determination of the balance state ( the same the uncertainty of measurement)
depends on the resolution ∆r . The resolution ∆r is the smallest change of the adjusting resistor that
causes noticeable change of indication ∆α of null indicator (it is assumed that human eye can detect the
change of the pointer equal to about 1/5 of the smallest graduation). Ofcourse the resistor R2 should have
sufficient number of adjustable decades in order to obtain sufficient resolution.

The resolution of bridge circuit depends on: Sensitivity of the null indicators Sg, sensitivity of the bridge
circuit S (Uout ≈ S∆R2 ) , resistance of the null indicator R0, resistance of the bridge circuit Rb (Resultant
resistance at the output terminals) and the supply voltage U0

1.10

An obvious conclusion can be drawn from the equation (1.10) – the resolution and sensitivity are
better for more sensitive null indicators (Sg = ∆α/Iout). Similarly the supply voltage should be as large as
possible – the limitation is the dissipation power of the used resistors. This limitation depends on the
bridge configurations – the conditions of the balance is the same for R3/R4 = 10Ω/100Ω and
R3/R4=10kΩ/100kΩ but the permissible supply voltage is both configurations quite different. Also the
sensitivity of the bridge circuit depends on the bridge configuration.
 In the case of the measurements of very small (less than 1Ω) resistances other sourcesof uncertainty
have to be taken into account.For small measured resistances the uncertainty can be influenced by the
contact resistances, thermoelectric voltages and most of all the resistances r of the wire connecting the
resistance to be measured. The influence of the thermoelectric voltages can be reduced by performing the
measurement procedure in two steps – for positive and negative polization of the supply voltage, and then
by calculation average value from these two measurements.

Figure 3: The methods of reduction of the influence of the connecting wires in the case of the measurements
of small resistances: a)three-wire connection b)four wire connection in the kelvin bridge circuit

It is possible to reduce the influence of the resistor r of the connecting wires by using the three-
wire connection presented in figure 3(a). If all three wires exhibit the same resistance (the same length ) we
can write that

(Rx+r)R4 = R2(R3+r)

(1.11)

And

RxR4 = R2R3 + r(R2-R4)

(1.12)
 If additionally the condition R2 = R4 is fulfilled then the influence of the resistance r of the
connecting wire is negligible.
For very small resistance, very useful is th modifications of the Wheatstone Bridge in the form presented
in figure 3(b)
( The kelvin Bridge). The conditions of the balance for this bridge is as follows

1.13

First of all, the resistance of connection wire r should be small – therefore such wire is prepared as a short
and large diameter wire. The second term in the Equations (1.13) as negligible if the following conditions is
fulfilled

R3R’4 = R’3R4 OR R3 = R4
R’3 R’4 (1.14)

The condition (1.14) is relatively easy to achieve by mechanical coupling of the resistors R3/R’3 and R4/R’4.
In such case, the conditions for the balance of the Kelven bridge(1.13) is the same as for the Wheatstone
Bridge (1.8).