OBJECTIVE

To study the basic schematic structure of a moving coil galvanometer and the
basic process underlying the conversion of a moving coil galvanometer into an
ammeter and a voltmeter.

INTRODUCTION
Electromagnetism:
The branch of physics which deals
with interaction of electric current or
fields and magnetic fields.

Magnetic field:
A region of space near a magnet,
electric current or moving charged
particle in which magnetic effects
are exerted on any other magnet,
electric current, or moving charged
particle. It is also known as magnetic
flux density or magnetic induction or
magnetic field.

Unit: Weber/m2 or Tesla

Dimensions: [MT-2A-1]

Oersted’s Discovery:

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The relation between electricity and magnetism was discovered by Oersted in
1820. Oersted showed that the electric current through the conducting wire
deflects the magnetic needle held near the wire. On increasing the current in
conductor or bringing the needle closer to the conductor, the deflection of
magnetic needle increases.

A magnet at rest produces a magnetic field around it while an electric charge at

rest produces an electric field around it. A current carrying conductor has a
magnetic field and not an electric field around it. On the other hand, a charge
moving with uniform velocity has an electric as well as a magnetic field around
it.

Biot-Savart’s Law:
With the help of experimental results, Biot and Savart arrived at a mathematical
expression that gives the magnetic field at some point in terms of the current
that produces the field.

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Magnetic Field Lines:
In order to visualize a magnetic field graphically, Michael Faraday introduced the
concept of field lines. Field lines of magnetic field are imaginary lines which
represents direction of magnetic field continuously.
Magnetic field lines emanate from or enter in the surface of a magnetic
material at any angle.
Magnetic field lines exist inside every magnetized material.
Magnetic field lines can be mapped by using iron dust or using compass
needle.
They are closed curves.
Tangent drawn on any point on field lines represents direction of the field
at that point.
Field lines never intersect each other.

Magnetic Force:
The implications of this expression include:
The force is perpendicular to both the velocity v of the charge q and the
magnetic field B.
The magnitude of the force is F = qvB sinθ where θ is the angle <180
degrees between the velocity and the magnetic field. This implies that the
magnetic force on a stationary charge or a charge moving parallel or
antiparallel to the magnetic field is zero.
The direction of the force is given by the left-hand rule. The force
relationship below is in the form of a vector product.

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 When current flows through a
conducting wire, and an external
magnetic field is applied across that
flow, the conducting wire
experiences a force perpendicular
both to that field and to the
direction of the current flow (i.e.,
they are mutually perpendicular).

The Thumb represents the direction of

Motion
resulting from the force on the conductor
The First finger represents the direction of
the magnetic Field
The Second finger represents the direction of the Current.

Magnetic Moment:
Magnetic moment of a bar magnet is defined as a vector quantity having
magnitude equal to the product of pole strength (m) with effective length (l) and
directed along the axis of the magnet from South to North pole.
𝑀=𝑚.𝑙

Magnetic Moment of a current carrying coil (loop):

A current carrying coil behaves like a magnetic dipole. The face of coil in which
current appears to flow anticlockwise acts as North Pole while face of coil in
which current appears to flow clock wise acts as South Pole.

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A loop of geometrical area ‘A’, carries a current ‘I’, then magnetic moment of
coil
M=IA

A coil of ‘N’ turns, geometrical area ‘A’, carries a current ‘I’, then magnetic
moment
M=NIA

Torque on a Current carrying coil placed in Magnetic

Field: -
Let θ be the angle between the plane of the loop and the
direction of the magnetic field. The axis of the coil is
perpendicular to the magnetic field.

|FSP| = IbB sinθ

|FQR| = IbB sinθ

Forces FSP and FQR act along the same line of action and are
equal in magnitude but opposite in direction and hence
don’t produce any torque and cancel out each other.

|FPQ| = IlB sinθ

|FRS| = IlB sinθ

Forces FPQ and FRS are equal in magnitude and opposite in

direction and cancel each other out and do not produce any
translational motion but they act along different lines of
action and hence produce torque about the axis of the coil.

The torque experienced by the coil is

τ=FPQ x PN
τ=IlB (b cosθ)
τ=IlbB cosθ
τ=IAB cosθ
τ=NIAB cosθ

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GALVANOMETER

Introduction:
A galvanometer is an electromechanical instrument for detecting and indicating
electric current. A galvanometer works as an actuator, by producing a rotary
deflection (of a "pointer"), in response to electric current flowing through a coil
in a constant magnetic field. Galvanometers developed from the observation
that the needle of a magnetic compass is deflected near a wire that has electric
current flowing through it, first described by Hans Oersted in 1820. They were
the first instruments used to detect and measure small amounts of electric
currents. Sensitive galvanometers have been essential for the development of
science and technology in many fields. Galvanometers also had widespread use
as the visualizing part in other kinds of analog meters, for example in light
meters, VU meters, etc., where they were used to measure and display the
output of other sensors.

Principle:
When a current carrying coil is
suspended in a uniform magnetic
field it is acted upon by a torque.
Under the action of this torque, the
coil rotates and the deflection in the
coil in a moving coil galvanometer is
directly proportional to the current
flowing through the coil.

Construction:
It consists of a rectangular coil of
thin insulated copper wires having a
large number of turns. The
horseshoe magnet has cylindrically
concave pole-pieces. Due to this
shape, the magnet produces radial
magnetic field so that when coil
rotates in any position its plane is
always parallel to the direction of
magnetic field. When current flows through the coil it gets deflected. A soft iron
cylinder is fixed inside the coil such that the coil can rotate freely between the
poles and around the cylinder. Due to the high permittivity, the soft iron core
increases the strength of the radial magnetic field.
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Working:
When a current flows through the coil, a torque act on it. This torque is given by
the equation 𝜏 = 𝑁𝑖𝐴𝐵 where the symbols have their usual meaning. Since the
field is radial by design, we have taken sin 𝜃 = 1 in the above expression for the
torque. The magnetic torque 𝜏 = 𝑁𝑖𝐴𝐵 tends to rotate the coil. A spring Sp
provides a counter torque 𝜏 = 𝐾𝜑 that balances the magnetic torque 𝜏 = 𝑁𝑖𝐴𝐵;
resulting in a steady angular deflection 𝜑.

At equilibrium, 𝐾𝜑 = 𝑁𝑖𝐴𝐵 where 𝐾 is the torsional constant of the spring; i.e.,

the restoring torque per unit twist. The deflection 𝜑 is indicated on the scale by
a pointer attached to the spring. We have 𝜑 = 𝑖.

So, the current through the coil varies linearly with the deflection and so, the
current flowing through the coil can be known by measuring the deflection. The
galvanometer can be used as a detector to check if a current is flowing in the
circuit (this configuration is used in the Wheatstone’s bridge arrangement). In
this usage the neutral position of the pointer (when no current is flowing
through the galvanometer) is in the middle of the scale and not at the left end.
Depending on the direction of the current, the pointer deflection is either to the
right or the left.

Current Sensitivity of Galvanometer:

The current sensitivity of a galvanometer is defined as the deflection produced
when unit current passes through the galvanometer. A galvanometer is said to
be sensitive if it produces large deflection for a small current.
∴ 𝐶𝑢𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑆𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑦 =

Factors increasing Current Sensitivity:

Increasing the magnetic field B by using strong permanent horse shoe
shaped magnet.
Increasing the number of turns N. But number of turns of the coil cannot
be increased beyond a certain limit. This is because the resistance of the
galvanometer will increase subsequently and hence the galvanometer
becomes less sensitive.
Increasing the area of the coil A. But it will make the galvanometer bulky
and ultimately less sensitive.
Decreasing the value of restoring force constant k by using a flat strip of
phosphor – bronze instead of circular wire of phosphor – bronze. Quartz

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 fibers can also be used for suspension of the coil because they have large
tensile strength and very low value of K.

Voltage Sensitivity of Galvanometer:

The voltage sensitivity of a galvanometer is defined as the deflection per unit
voltage.
∴ 𝑉𝑜𝑙𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑆𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑦 = =
where G = Galvanometer Resistance

An interesting point to note is that, increasing the current sensitivity does not
necessarily, increase the voltage sensitivity. When the number of turns (n) is
doubled, current sensitivity is also doubled (equation 1). But increasing the
number of turns correspondingly increases the resistance (G). Hence voltage
sensitivity remains unchanged.
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Factors increasing Voltage Sensitivity:
Increasing number of turns of the coil (N)
Increasing magnetic field intensity (B)
Increasing area of the coil (A)
Decreasing restoring torque per unit twist of the suspension (k)
Decreasing resistance (G)



Advantages of a Moving Coil Galvanometer:
The sensitivity of the galvanometer can be increased by increasing N, B
and A while decreasing the value of k.
The instrument has a linear scale.
Since the instrument uses high value of B, the deflection is undisturbed
by the earth’s magnetic field.

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CONVERSIONS

Conversion of Galvanometer into Ammeter:

The galvanometer cannot as such be used as an ammeter to measure the value

of the current in a given circuit. This is for two reasons: (i) Galvanometer is a very
sensitive device, it gives a full-scale deflection for a current of the order of μA.
(ii) For measuring currents, the galvanometer has to be connected in series, and
as it has a large resistance, this will change the value of the current in the circuit.
To overcome these difficulties, one attaches a small resistance S, called shunt
resistance, in parallel with the
galvanometer coil; so that most of
the current passes through the
shunt. The value of shunt resistance
depends on the fraction of the total
current required to be passed
through the galvanometer. Let Ig be
the maximum current that can be
passed through the galvanometer.
The current Ig will give full scale
deflection in the galvanometer.
Galvanometer Resistance = G
Shunt Resistance = S
Current in the circuit = I
∴ 𝐶𝑢𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠ℎ𝑢𝑛𝑡 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝐼𝑠 = 𝐼 － 𝐼𝑔
Since the galvanometer and the shunt resistance are connected in parallel, the
potential difference across both of them is same.
𝐼𝑔. 𝐺 = (𝐼 − 𝐼𝑔). 𝑆
𝐼𝑔
𝑆 = 𝐺.
(𝐼 − 𝐼𝑔)

The shunt resistance is very small because Ig is only a fraction of I.

The effective resistance of the ammeter Ra is (G in parallel with S): -

𝑆
𝑅𝑎 = 𝐺.
𝐺+𝑆
Ra is very low and this explains why an ammeter should be connected in series.
When connected in series, the ammeter does not appreciably change the
resistance and current in the circuit. Hence an ideal ammeter is one which has
zero resistance.
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Conversion of Galvanometer into Voltmeter:
Voltmeter is an instrument used to measure potential difference between the
two ends of a current carrying conductor. A galvanometer can be converted into
a voltmeter by connecting a high resistance in series with it. The scale is
calibrated in volt.
The value of the resistance connected in series decides the range of the
voltmeter.
Galvanometer Resistance = G
The current required to produce full scale deflection in the galvanometer = Ig
Range of Voltmeter = V
Resistance to be connected in series = R

Since R is connected in series with

the galvanometer, the current
through the galvanometer,
𝑉
𝐼𝑔 =
𝑅+𝐺

𝑉
𝑅= −𝐺
𝐼𝑔

From the equation the resistance to be connected in series with the

galvanometer is calculated. The effective resistance of the voltmeter is: -
∴ 𝑅𝑣 = 𝑅 + 𝐺
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Rv is very large, and hence a voltmeter is connected in parallel in a circuit as it
draws the least current from the circuit. In other words, the resistance of the
voltmeter should be very large compared to the resistance across which the
voltmeter is connected to measure the potential difference. Otherwise, the
voltmeter will draw a large current from the circuit and hence the current
through the remaining part of the circuit decreases. In such a case the potential
difference measured by the voltmeter is very much less than the actual potential
difference. The error is eliminated only when the voltmeter has a high
resistance. An ideal voltmeter is one which has infinite resistance.

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Bibliography:
NCERT Physics Part-I Textbook Class 12
www.wikipedia.org
www.google.co.in
www.scribd.com
www.slideshare.net
www.youtube.com
www.brainly.com
www.academia.edu
www.byjus.com

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