OVERVIEW OF SOME BASIC INSTRUMENTS

MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
In the physical sciences, quality assurance, and engineering, measurement is the activity of
obtaining and comparing physical quantities of real-world objects and events. Established
standard objects and events are used as units, and the measurement results in a given number for
the relationship between the item under study and the referenced unit of measurement.
Measuring instruments, and formal test methods which define their use, are the means by which
this translation is made. All measuring instruments are subject to varying degrees of instrument
error and measurement uncertainty.

Some measuring instruments are:

 Ammeter
 Voltmeter
 Wattmeter

AMMETER
An ammeter is a measuring instrument used to measure the electric current in a circuit. Electric
currents are measured in amperes (A), hence the name.

AMMETER SCHEMATIC SYMBOL

The ammeter symbol (A) is shown in the diagram.

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PRINCIPLE OF OPERATION

The principle on which ammeters are based is that when a current is passed through a wire it sets
up a magnetic field around the wire. Coiling the wire produces an electro magnet whose strength
is proportional to the current.

AMMETER TYPES

1. Moving coil ammeter

The earliest design is the D'Arsonval galvanometer or moving coil ammeter. It uses
magnetic deflection, where current passing through a coil causes the coil to move in a
magnetic field. The voltage drop across the coil is kept to a minimum to minimize
resistance across the ammeter in any circuit into which it is inserted.deflects in direct
proportion to the current. This meter is called an ammeter.

2. Moving iron ammeters

Moving iron ammeters use a piece of iron which move when acted upon by the
electromagnetic force of a fixed coil of wire. This type of meter responds to both direct
and alternating currents (as opposed to the moving coil ammeter, which works on direct
current only).
To measure larger currents, a resistor called a shunt is placed in parallel with the meter.
Most of the current flows through the shunt, and only a small fraction flows through the
meter. This allows the meter to measure large currents. Traditionally, the meter used with
a shunt has a full-scale deflection (FSD) of 50 mV, so shunts are typically designed to
produce a voltage drop of 50 mV when carrying their full rated current.

3. Zero-center ammeters

Zero-center ammeters are used for applications requiring current to be measured with
both polarities, common in scientific and industrial equipment. Zero-center ammeters are
also commonly placed in series with a battery. In this application, the charging of the
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 battery deflects the needle to one side of the scale (commonly, the right side) and the
discharging of the battery deflects the needle to the other side.

4. Digital ammeter

Digital ammeter designs use an analog to digital converter (ADC) to measure the voltage
across the shunt resistor; the digital display is calibrated to read the current through the
shunt.

CONNECTING AN AMMETER

The most common way to measure current in a circuit is to break the circuit open and insert an
"ammeter" in series (in-line) with the circuit so that all electrons flowing through the circuit also
have to go through the meter. Because measuring current in this manner requires the meter be
made part of the circuit, it is a more difficult type of measurement to make than either voltage or
resistance.

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When an ammeter is placed in series with a circuit, it ideally drops no voltage as current goes
through it. In other words, it acts very much like a piece of wire, with very little resistance from
one test probe to the other. Consequently, an ammeter will act as a short circuit if placed in
parallel (across the terminals of) a substantial source of voltage. If this is done, a surge in current
will result, potentially damaging the meter.

Ammeters are generally protected from excessive current by means of a small fuse located inside
the meter housing. If the ammeter is accidently connected across a substantial voltage source, the
resultant surge in current will "blow" the fuse and render the meter incapable of measuring
current until the fuse is replaced.

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VOLTMETER

A voltmeter is an instrument used for measuring the electrical potential difference between two
points in an electric circuit.

VOLTMETER SCHEMATIC SYMBOL

The voltmeter symbol (V) is shown in the diagram.

VOLTMETER TYPES

1. Analog voltmeter

Analog voltmeter has a needle, or "pointer", that points to a number that tells the number
of volts. This is the kind of voltmeter where one has to be careful about making the
positive and negative connections right — if wrong connections are made, the voltmeter
can be damaged.
A moving coil galvanometer can be used as a voltmeter by inserting a resistor in series
with the instrument. It employs a small coil of fine wire suspended in a strong magnetic
field. When an electrical current is applied, the galvanometer's indicator rotates and
compresses a small spring. The angular rotation is proportional to the current through the
coil. For use as a voltmeter, a series resistance is added so that the angular rotation
becomes proportional to the applied voltage.
One of the design objectives of the instrument is to disturb the circuit as little as possible
and so the instrument should draw a minimum of current to operate. This is achieved by
using a sensitive ammeter or microammeter in series with a high resistance.
Moving-coil instruments with a permanent-magnet field respond only to direct current.
Measurement of AC voltage requires a rectifier in the circuit so that the coil deflects in
only one direction. Moving-coil instruments are also made with the zero position in the

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 middle of the scale instead of at one end; these are useful if the voltage reverses its
polarity.
Voltmeters operating on the electrostatic principle use the mutual repulsion between two
charged plates to deflect a pointer attached to a spring. Meters of this type draw
negligible current but are sensitive to voltages over about 100 volts and work with either
alternating or direct current.

2. Vacuum Tube Voltmeter (VTVM)

The sensitivity and input resistance of a voltmeter can be increased if the current required
to deflect the meter pointer is supplied by an amplifier instead of the circuit under test. A
once-popular form of voltmeter of this type was the vacuum tube voltmeter, frequently
referred to as a VTVM. Today these instruments use a solid-state amplifier using field-
effect transistors. The electronic amplifier between input and meter gives two benefits; a
rugged moving coil instrument can be used, since its sensitivity need not be high, and the
input resistance can be made high, reducing the current drawn from the circuit under test.
Amplified voltmeters often have an input resistance of 1, 10, or 20 megohms which is
independent of the range selected.

3. Digital voltmeters (DVM)

Digital voltmeter shows the numbers in a "digital" way, just like digital clocks and
calculators. This kind of voltmeter is not damaged from "wrong" connections; instead,
they just show a negative number. They give a numerical display of voltage by use of an
analog to digital converter.
Digital voltmeters necessarily have input amplifiers, and, like vacuum tube voltmeters,
generally have a constant input resistance of 10 megohms regardless of set measurement
range.
Also, there are two types of voltmeters, based on the current type: some voltmeters are
designed for use in direct current (DC) while others are designed for alternating current
(AC). Modern voltmeters can work in both currents.

CONNECTING A VOLTMETER

The voltmeter can be connected with two wires to where the voltage is. One wire is the positive
one, and the other the negative. With some voltmeters, one must make sure that the wires are
connected right: the positive connection on the voltmeter to the more positive "part" of the
voltage source, and the negative to the more negative "part". This way, the voltmeter is parallel
to the electrical circuit.
One should also be careful about handling the connection: If there is a high voltage (many volts),
one can get hurt or even killed by touching the metal connections with the voltage directly.
All voltmeters have an upper limit, or a "maximum number" of volts they can "handle". If a
voltmeter is used for bigger voltages than it was made to "handle", it may damage or destroy it.

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To avoid damaging the voltmeter, one could use a voltmeter that can handle a lot of volts, but
such voltmeters are often not very precise with small voltages. The best way is to always use a
voltmeter that can handle the voltage, but not one that was made for much larger voltages.
Voltages can be either from a direct current or an alternating current. A voltmeter needs to be
"prepared", or made for, one of them. If one tries to measure one kind of voltage with a voltmeter
made for the other, the voltmeter will either show a wrong voltage, or be destroyed.

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WATTMETER
The wattmeter is an instrument for measuring the electric power (or the supply rate of electrical
energy) in watts of any given circuit.

WATTMETER TYPES

1. Electronic wattmeter

Electronic wattmeters are used for direct, small power measurements or for power
measurements at frequencies beyond the range of electrodynamometer-type instruments.

 Digital wattmeter

A modern digital electronic wattmeter/energy meter samples the voltage and

current thousands of times a second. The average of the instantaneous voltage
multiplied by the current is the true power. The true power divided by the
apparent volt-amperes (VA) is the power factor. A computer circuit uses the
sampled values to calculate RMS voltage, RMS current, VA, power (watts),
power factor, and kilowatt-hours. The simple models display that information on
LCD. More sophisticated models retain the information over an extended period
of time, and can transmit it to field equipment or a central location.

2. Electrodynamic

 Analog wattmeter

The traditional analog wattmeter is an electrodynamic instrument. The device

consists of a pair of fixed coils, known as current coils, and a movable coil known
as the potential coil.

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CONNECTING A WATTMETER

The current coils connected in series with the circuit, while the potential coil is connected in
parallel. Also, on analog wattmeters, the potential coil carries a needle that moves over a scale to
indicate the measurement. A current flowing through the current coil generates an
electromagnetic field around the coil. The strength of this field is proportional to the line current
and in phase with it. The potential coil has, as a general rule, a high-value resistor connected in
series with it to reduce the current that flows through it.
The result of this arrangement is that on a dc circuit, the deflection of the needle is proportional
to both the current and the voltage, thus conforming to the equation W=VA or P=VI. On an ac
circuit the deflection is proportional to the average instantaneous product of voltage and current,
thus measuring true power, and possibly (depending on load characteristics) showing a different
reading to that obtained by simply multiplying the readings showing on a stand-alone voltmeter
and a stand-alone ammeter in the same circuit.
The two circuits of a wattmeter can be damaged by excessive current. The ammeter and
voltmeter are both vulnerable to overheating - in case of an overload, their pointers will be
driven off scale - but in the wattmeter, either or even both the current and potential circuits can
overheat without the pointer approaching the end of the scale! This is because the position of the
pointer depends on the power factor, voltage and current. Thus, a circuit with a low power factor
will give a low reading on the wattmeter, even when both of its circuits are loaded to the
maximum safety limit. Therefore, a wattmeter is rated not only in watts, but also in volts and
amperes.