DEPARMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE

AND ENGINEERING

• Name: Mahiah Kulsum

• Student Id: C213260
• Section: 2B
• Subject code: PHY-1204
• Course Title: Physics II Lab
• Submitted to: Dr. Shamima Nasrin
1.Meter Bridge.
A meter bridge also called a slide wire bridge is an instrument that works on the
principle of a Wheatstone bridge. A meter bridge is used in finding the unknown
resistance of a conductor as that of in a Wheatstone bridge.

* What Is Wheatstone Bridge?

A Wheatstone bridge is a kind of electrical circuit used in measuring an electrical
resistance, which is unknown by balancing its two legs of the bridge circuit, where one
of the legs includes an unknown component.

* How Is A Meter Bridge Used In Finding The Unknown Resistance?

A meter bridge is an apparatus utilized in finding the unknown resistance of a coil.

AE, FG and HC are also mounted on the same board. A known fixed resistance
Apparatus P is connected across E and F and the unknown resistance Q is
connected across G and H. The remaining two resistances R and S are obtained by
dividing the wire into two parts with the help of a sliding key or jockey D. The
galvanometer is connected across B and the cell across A and C. The bridge is
balanced by moving D.

AC is the long wire measuring 1m in length and it is made of constantan or

manganin having a uniform area of the cross-section.

The value of the unknown resistance is obtained from the relation:

𝑃 𝑅 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑜𝑓𝐴𝐷 𝐿
= = 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑜𝑓𝐷𝐶 = 100−𝐿
𝑄 𝑆
where L is the length of AD. Hence,
𝑃(100 − 𝐿)
𝑄=
𝐿
The devices required in finding the unknown resistance of a conductor using a
meter bridge are:
• Meter bridge

• Resistance box

• Galvanometer

• Unknown Resistance of a length 1 m

• Screw gauge

• Connecting Wires

• Jockey

• One way key

Procedure For Finding The Unknown Resistance Using Meter Bridge

• Collect the instruments and prepare connections as shown in the above figure.

• Take some suitable kind of resistance ‘P’ from the resistance box.

• Touch jockey at the point A; look that there exists a deflection in galvanometer on one of
the sides, then contact the jockey on point C of wire, then the deflection in galvanometer
has to be on another side.

• Find the position of the null point having deflection in the galvanometer that becomes
zero. Note the length AD (l) DC = (100 – l).

• Continue the above method for some different values of the ‘P’. Note at least some 5
readings.

• Consider the point where galvanometer shows a 0 deflection; this is called balance
point.

• Now, Measure the length of given wire by the use of ordinary scale and radius of the wire
by the utilization of a screw gauge, (Take at least five readings).
 • Calculate Mean Resistance of Single Unknown Resistance = Total Sum of resistances of
Unknown resistance from the above five readings)/5.

2.Post Office Box.

A Post Office Box can also be used to measure an unknown resistance. It is a
Wheatstone Bridge with three arms P, Q and R; while the fourth arm is the
unknown resistance. P and Q are known as the ratio arms while R is known as the
rheostat arm.

𝑃
S =(𝑄) 𝑅 .... (1)

The ratio arms are first adjusted so that they carry 100 Ω each. The resistance in
the rheostat arm is now adjusted so that the galvanometer deflection is in one
direction. If R = R0 (ohm) and R = R0 + 1 (ohm) are the resistance in rheostat
arm, for which the deflection in galvanometer is in opposite direction, then it
implies that the unknown resistance ‘S’ lies between R0 & (R0 + 1) ohm.

Now, the resistances in P and Q are made 100 Ω and 1000 Ω, respectively, and the
process is repeated.

Equation (1) is used to compute S. The ratio P/Q is progressively made 1:10, and
then 1:100. Thus, the resistance S can be accurately measured.
3.End correction of Meter Bridge.
End error in a meter bridge is an error caused due to the shifting of zero of
the scale at different points due to non-uniformity of metal wire.
The end error can be overcome by repeating the experiment by
interchanging unknown and known resistance and taking the mean value of
resistance obtained in each experiment.

4.Calibration.
Calibration is a comparison between a known measurement (the standard) and
the measurement using your instrument. Typically, the accuracy of the
standard should be ten times the accuracy of the measuring device being
tested.

5.Resistance.
According to Ohm’s law, there is a relation between the current flowing
through a conductor and the potential difference across it. It is given by,
V ∝ I V = IR
Where,
V is the potential difference measured across the conductor (in volts)
I is the current through the conductor (in amperes)
R is the constant of proportionality called resistance (in ohms)

The electrical resistance of a circuit is the ratio between the voltage applied to the
current flowing through it.
Rearranging the above relation,
R = V/I

The unit of electrical resistance is ohms.

ohm = 1 volt/1 ampere

Electric charge flows easily through some materials than others. The
electrical resistance measures how much the flow of this electric charge is
restricted within the circuit.

Factors Affecting Electrical Resistance

The electrical resistance of a conductor is dependent on the following factors:

• The cross-sectional area of the conductor

• Length of the conductor

• The material of the conductor

• The temperature of the conducting material
Electrical resistance is directly proportional to length (L) of the conductor and
inversely proportional to the cross-sectional area (A). It is given by the
following relation.
R = ρL / A

where ρ is the resistivity of the material (measured in Ωm, ohm meter)

Resistivity is a qualitative measurement of a material’s ability to resist
flowing electric current. Obviously, insulators will have a higher value of
resistivity than that of conductors.
*Resistors in Series
• The total resistance of an electrical circuit with resistors wired in a
series is the sum o the individual resistances: Rs = R1 + R2 + R3 +….
• Each resistor in a series circuit has the same amount of current flowing
through it.
• The voltage drop, or power dissipation, across each individual resistor in
a series is different, and their combined total adds up to the power
source input.
*Resistors in Parallel
• The total resistance of an electrical circuit with resistors wired in
parallel is less than the lowest resistance of any of the
components and can be determined using the formula:
1 1 1 1
=𝑅 + 𝑅 + 3 + ⋯
𝑅𝑝 1 2

• Each resistor in a parallel circuit has the same full voltage of the
source applied to it.
• The current flowing through each resistor in a parallel circuit is
different, depending on the resistance.

6.Specific Resistance.
Specific resistance is defined as the resistance offered per unit length and
unit cross-sectional area when a known amount of voltage is applied. The
mathematical representation is as follows:
ρ = RA/L
SI unit of specific resistance is ohm meter (Ωm)

7.Galvanometer.
A galvanometer is a device that is used to detect small electric current or
measure its magnitude. The current and its intensity is usually indicated by a
magnetic needle’s movement or that of a coil in a magnetic field.
8.Jockey.
jockey is the movable instrument where you can find balancing length in metre
bridge.

9.Half deflection method.

The half deflection method is the method by which an internal resistance of
a cell can help in evaluating value which is considered as high. The
deflection of half is considered as a value obtained along with the cell
alone. In a deflection method, a high resistance box is connected in series
with the battery in order to bring the deflection of galvanometer within the
scale.