Subject: Electronics

Semester: 5th
Paper Title: Electronic Instrumentation
Unit I: Measurements and Instruments
Topic: Schering Bridge

The Schering bridge, one of the most important ac bridges, is used extensively for the
measurement of capacitors. It offers some decided advantages over the capacitance comparison
bridge. Although the Schering bridge is used for capacitance measurements in a general sense, it
is particularly useful for measuring insulating properties, i.e., for phase angles very nearly 90°.
The basic circuit arrangement is shown in Fig.1, and inspection of the circuit shows a
strong resemblance to the capacitance comparison bridge. Arm 1 contains a parallel combination
of a resistor and a capacitor, and the standard arm contains only a capacitor. The standard
capacitor is usually a high-quality mica capacitor for general measurement work or an air
capacitor for insulation measurements. A good-quality mica capacitor has very low losses (no
resistance) and therefore a phase angle of approximately 90°. An air capacitor, when designed
carefully, has a very stable value and a very small electric field; the insulating material to be
tested can easily be kept out of any strong fields.
The balance conditions require that the sum of the phase angles of arms 1 and 4 equals
the sum of the phase angles of arms 2 and 3. Since the standard capacitor is in arm 3, the sum of
the phase angles of arm 2 and arm 3 will be Oo + 90° = 90°. In order to obtain the 90°-phase
angle needed for balance, the sum of the angles of arm 1 and arm 4 must equal 90°. Since in
general measurement work the unknown will have a phase angle smaller than 90°, it is necessary
to give arm 1 a small capacitive angle by connecting capacitor C, inparallel with resistor R1. A
small capacitive angle is very easy to obtain, requiring a small capacitor across resistor R1.
The balance equations are derived in the usual manner, and by substituting the
corresponding impedance and admittance values in the general equation, we obtain
Zx = Z2Z3Y1 (where admittance Y1 = 1 / Z1)
Or Rx – (j / wCx) = R2 [-j / wC3][(1 / R1) + jwC1]
After simplification and equating the real terms and the imaginary terms, we find that
Rx = R2C1 / C3 and Cx = C3R1 / R2