Activity 3 – Sample Problems

Question 1. Briefly explain the operation of the resistance temperature detector (RTD) by
describing the input to and output from this type of transducer and the relationship between the
input and output.

A platinum resistance thermometer is used to measure temperatures between 0 and 200C. The
resistance of the element, RT, at a temperature T (C) is given by the following expression:


RT  R0 1  T  T 2 
where, for this device:
R0 = 100
R100 = 138.50
R200 = 175.83

(i) Calculate the values for  and  and give their units.
(ii) Determine the non-linearity of the instrument at 200C and express it as a percentage of full
scale resistance.

Question 2. What are thermistors made from and what is meant by the term negative temperature
coefficient? Are they linear or non-linear devices?

The resistance R(T) of a thermistor at a temperature T (Kelvin) is given by:

  1 1 
R (T )  RTo exp     
  T To 

Given that the resistance of the device is 8.00k at 0C and the resistance of the device at 100C is
1.00k, calculate

(i) the characteristic temperature, , of the thermistor

(ii) the resistance of the thermistor at 30C

Question 3. Explain what is meant by the term Pt100.

A resistance temperature sensor has a characteristic equation with the following form:
R (T )  Ro(1  T )
where R (T ) is the resistance of the thermometer at any temperature T.
Ro is its resistance at 0 degrees C.
 is the temperature coefficient of resistance of the thermometer.
Estimate Ro and  by plotting the following set of data (obtained by experiment).
Temperature (degrees C) Resistance ()
5 92.5
20 99
40 108
55 114.75
70 121.5
 90 130.5

Question 4. What is meant by the term cold junction compensation when using thermocouples to
measure temperature?

A type K thermocouple is used to measure the temperature of a tank of hot oil. One junction is
placed in the tank and an e.m.f. of 4.2 mV is measured with the second junction at a temperature of
25 C. What is the temperature of the tank?

Question 5. The graph below shows the characteristic for a thermistor. Given that the thermistor’s
characteristic is modeled by the equation below, determine the value of the constant B.

B B
R2  R1 exp  
 T2 T1 

where R2 is the resistance at some temperature T2 and

R1 is the resistance at some temperature T1.

Log Scale

1.E+06

1.E+05
Resistance (Ohms)

1.E+04

1.E+03

1.E+02

1.E+01

1.E+00
100 1000
Temp (K)