.

Experiment :B-03
Determination of self inductance of a coil by Rayleighs
method.

Submitted by
Muhammed Mehedi Hassan
Group A ;Batch-09
Second Year, RollSH 236
Student of Physics Department,
Uinversity of Dhaka.
Date of experiment September 27, 2011.
Date of submission October 30 , 2011.

Experiment :B-03
Determination of self inductance of a coil by Rayleighs method.

Theory :

Figure 1: Rayleighs method circuit diagram.

If a potential V applied to a condenser of capacitance C, imparts Q units of charge to
the condenser then,
Q
V
From the ballistic galvanometer working formula we got:
C=

T i 1

(1 + )
2
2
T i 1 1
Q=
s 2 3
Where, s = the maximum displacement of the steady deflection,
T=period of the oscillation,
=logaritmmic decrement of the galvanometer coil.
We know that,
Q = nLio
Q=

(1)

(2)
(3)

(4)

Therefore , from equation (3) and (4) we can write,

L=
Replacing x =

1
s

and y 4 =

T r 1 1 1
( )( ) 4
2 s 3

(5)

1
3

Tr
xy
2
From this equation the absolute capacitor of a condenser can be found.
L=

(6)

Apparatus :
1. An inductor (inductance to be measured)
2. A ballistic galvanometer with light scale arrangement
3. A shunt box
4. A high resistance box
5. A cell
6. Key (taping and morse key) and
7. lamp

Table -1:Determination of 1 and 3 hence obtain x and y :

No.

Ratio of

of

P
Q

obs.
1

Displacement of ballistic
galvanometer mm
Make
Break
Mean
1

Steady
deflection s

30
1/1
31
30
44
10/10
45
44
52
100/100
53
52
70
1000/1000 72
73
91
10000/10000 90
92

20
21
22
39
40
39
42
43
43
57
58
58
74
73
74

30
31
30
45
44
44
53
53
54
71
72
72
91
92
91

21
21 30.33
20.5
20 0.577 0.577
39
40 44.33
39.33
39 0.577 0.577
43
42 53.17
42.5
42 0.577 0.577
58
59 71.67
57.83
57 1.0
1.0
73
72 91.16
73.83
74 1.0
1.0

mm
10

3.033 1.107

16

2.770 1.127

20

2.658 1.251

26

2.766 1.239

33

2.762 1.234

Table -2:Determination of the time period T :

No.
of
observation
1
2
3
4
5

Time for
10 oscillation
s
78.26
79.33
78.52
77.63
78.21

Time period
Mean
T
T
s
s
7.826
7.933
7.852
7.8396.19 102
7.763
7.821

Calculation :
Using equation (6) we get the inductance to be,
L1
L2
L3
L4
L5

= 0.8378 H
= 0.8842 H
= 0.8297 H
= 0.8522 H
= 0.8505 H
= (0.85088 .0208) H
Average inductance L

Differentiating eq. (6) with x y and T we can calculate the uncertainity of this result,
L
=0.1061
T

H/s=0.1061

L
=0.29732
x
L
=0.1698
y

H
H

L =0.0917 H

Result :
= (0.85088 .0917) H
L
Percentage of error is 6.3% as the standard value is 0.8 H.

Discussion :
Human error in counting the distance of deflection adds to errors. This could be
improved by taking more data. The scale we used was hand made and may not be
properly leveled. In such case, the coil will not oscillate in a vertical plane and will
lead to incorrect observations,this unacuracy in calibration leads some error.If the spot
of light is not properly adjusted on the zero of the scale, all the observations for n as
well as for the C.D.R. are liable to be incorrect, so we take this with much care. And
he plugs of the resistance boxes may not be clean, or may be loose due to which the
4

actual value of the resistance introduced in the circuit may be different from what is
observed.
In the measurement of the distance (d) between the two consecutive deflection follow
a constant proportion. Basically there is a better way to measure the inductance with
the help of a capacitor (Andersons method) which leads us to a more sensitive approach
to measure inductance.