ELECTRICAL MEASURING

INSTRUMENTS

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 Thursday, June 8, 2023 Electrical Measuring Instruments 2

Topics to be Discussed
• Essentials of an Instrument.
• Controlling Torque.
• Damping Torque.
• Dynamometer Type Instruments.
• Digital Multimeter.
• Analog Multimeter.
• Voltmeters.
• Voltmeter Sensitivity.
• Voltmeter loading.

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Thursday, June 8, 2023 Electrical Measuring Instruments 3

• Ammeters.
• Ammeter Sensitivity.
• Ammeter Loading.
• Ohm-meters.
• Wattmeter.
• Watthour Meter.

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 Thursday, June 8, 2023 Electrical Measuring Instruments 4

Measuring Instruments
Two Types :
1. Absolute instruments :-
These give the magnitude of the quantity in terms of the constants
of the instruments. Example :-
a tangent galvanometer (used for measuring electric current)

2. Secondary instruments :-
These have to be calibrated by comparison with an absolute
instrument.
1. Indicating instruments (e.g., voltmeters, ammeters,
etc) Click
2. Recording instruments (e.g., ECG).
3. Integrating instruments (e.g., energy-meter,
odometer). Click

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Thursday, June 8, 2023 Electrical Measuring Instruments 5

Principle of operation
1. Magnetic effect.
2. Thermal effect.
3. Chemical effect.
4. Electrostatic effect.
5. Electromagnetic induction effect.

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Thursday, June 8, 2023 Electrical Measuring Instruments 6

Essentials of an Instrument
1. Deflecting Torque :
1. This can be produced by any of the effects of current
(or of voltage).
2. It is proportional to the magnitude of the quantity being
measured.
2. Controlling Torque : (i) Spring control, (2) Gravity
control.
1. It opposes the deflecting torque.
2. It is proportional to the deflection of the pointer.
Click

3. Damping Torque : (i) Air friction, (ii) Fluid friction,

(iii) Eddy current.
1. It makes the moving system to come to its final steady
position quickly.

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Thursday, June 8, 2023 Electrical Measuring Instruments 7

Controlling Torque
• It opposes the deflecting torque.
c  
• At pointer’s zero position, the controlling torque
is zero.
• At some position , the controlling torque
becomes equal to the deflecting torque.
• The pointer then stops moving further.
• It serves two functions :
1. The pointer stops moving beyond the final deflection,
2. The pointer comes back to its zero position when the
instrument is disconnected.

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Thursday, June 8, 2023 Electrical Measuring Instruments 8

(i) Spring Control

• Most commonly used.
• One or two hairsprings made of phosphor bronze are
used.
• The outer end of this spring is fixed and the inner end is
attached with the spindle.
• When the pointer is at zero of the scale, the spring is
normal.
• As the pointer moves, the spring winds and produces an
opposing torque.
• The balance-weight balances the moving system so that
its centre of gravity coincides with the axis of rotation,
thereby reducing the friction between the pivot and
bearings.

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Thursday, June 8, 2023 Electrical Measuring Instruments 9

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Double Springs

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Thursday, June 8, 2023 Electrical Measuring Instruments 11

• Two springs A and B are wound in opposite directions.

• On deflection, one spring winds while the other unwinds.
• To make the controlling torque directly proportional to the
angle of deflection, the springs should have fairly large number
of turns.

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Thursday, June 8, 2023 Electrical Measuring Instruments 12

• Advantages :
• Since  c   and  d  I ; at final position, c =  d
Hence,  I
• These instruments have uniform scale.
• Disadvantages :
• The stiffness of the spring is a function of temperature.
• Hence, the readings given by the instruments are
temperature dependent.
• Furthermore, with the usage the spring develops an
inelastic yield which affects the zero position of the
moving system.

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Thursday, June 8, 2023 Electrical Measuring Instruments 13

(ii) Gravity Control

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Thursday, June 8, 2023 Electrical Measuring Instruments 14

• A small control weight is attached to the moving system.

• In addition, an adjustable balance weight is also attached

to make the center of gravity pass through the spindle.

• In zero position of the pointer, this control weight is

vertical.

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 Thursday, June 8, 2023 Electrical Measuring Instruments 15

◼When deflected by an angle θ, the

weight exerts a force,
W sin 
◼ The restraining or controlling
torque is thus developed is given as

 c = (W sin  )  L = WL sin 
Since  d  I , and  c =  d
or WL sin  = kI

 WL 
 I =  sin 
 k 
or I  sin 
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Disadvantage :

1. These do not have uniform scale.

2. These must be used in vertical position so that the
control may operate properly.

Advantages :
1. Less expensive.
2. Unaffected by changes in temperature.
3. Free from fatigue or deterioration with time.

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 Thursday, June 8, 2023 Electrical Measuring Instruments 17

Damping Torque

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➢ Due to inertia of the system, the pointer moves ahead to

position A, before coming to rest.
➢ This way the pointer keeps oscillating about its final
steady-state position with decreasing amplitude.
➢ It settles at its final steady-state position when all its
energy is dissipated in friction.
➢ The situation described above is very annoying.
➢ Moreover, for every change in the magnitude of the
quantity being measured, one has to wait for some time.

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Thursday, June 8, 2023 Electrical Measuring Instruments 19

• The remedy lies in providing a suitable damping

torque.
• If over-damped, the time-delay in taking the
reading becomes unnecessarily long.
• If under damped, the oscillations of the pointer
would not be killed completely.
• Thus, the damping torque should be just sufficient
to kill the oscillation without increasing the delay-
time.
• This condition is said to be critically damped or
‘dead beat’.

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 Thursday, June 8, 2023 Electrical Measuring Instruments 20

Methods of Obtaining Damping

Torques
• It must act only when the deflecting system is
moving.
• The faster the motion, the stronger should become
the damping torque.
• The magnitude of the damping torque should be
proportional to the speed of the deflecting system.
• Different methods.

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 Thursday, June 8, 2023 Electrical Measuring Instruments 21

(1) Air Friction Damping

(a) Piston in an air chamber. (b) Vane in an air chamber.

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(2) Fluid Friction Damping

• The vane is dipped in a pot containing damping oil.

• The drag on the vane opposes its motion.

• This arrangement can only be used in the instruments which

are held in vertical position.

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 Thursday, June 8, 2023 Electrical Measuring Instruments 23

(3) Eddy-Current Damping

This is the most commonly
employed method.

Eddy currents in a Eddy currents in a

metal vane. metal disc.
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MOVING COIL INSTRUEMNTS

• There are two types :

(1) Permanent Magnet Type : It is the most accurate
and useful for dc measurements.
(2) Dynamometer Type : It can be used for both dc and
ac measurements.

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Thursday, June 8, 2023 Electrical Measuring Instruments 25

Permanent Magnet Moving Coil (PMMC)

Instruments

• Popularly known as d’Arsonval movement.

• It has iron-cored coil mounted on bearings between a
permanent magnet.

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 Galvanometers
• When a current is passed through
a coil in a magnetic field, the coil
experiences a torque proportional
to the current.
• A coil spring provides the
controlling torque.
• The deflection of a needle
attached to the coil is proportional
to the current.
• Such "meter movements" are at
the heart of the moving coil
meters such as voltmeters and
ammeters.
• Now they were largely replaced
with solid state meters.

Thursday, June 8, 2023 Electrical Measuring Instruments 26

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Increasing Sensitivity of
PMMC Instruments

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How the Deflection Torque is Produced

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Thursday, June 8, 2023 Electrical Measuring Instruments 31

• Consider a single turn PQ of the current carrying coil.

• The outward current in P set up a counterclockwise
magnetic field.
• Thus, the field on the lower side is strengthened and
on upper side weakened.
• The inward current in Q, on the other hand,
strengthens the field on the upper side while weakens
it on the lower side.
• The coil experience forces F-F.
• If d is the width of the coil
 = F  (d / 2) + F  (d / 2) = Fd

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Thursday, June 8, 2023 Electrical Measuring Instruments 32

Advantages :
(i) High sensitivity.
(ii) Uniform scale.
(iii) Well shielded from any stray magnetic field.
(iv) High torque/weight ratio.
(v) Effective and reliable eddy-current damping.

Disadvantages :
(i) Cannot be used for ac measurement.
(ii) More expensive compared to moving-iron type.
(iii) Ageing of control springs and of the permanent
magnets might cause errors.

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Thursday, June 8, 2023 Electrical Measuring Instruments 33

Example 1

• The coil of a permanent-magnet moving coil instrument

is wound with 421/2 turns.
• The mean width of the coil is 2.5 cm and axial length of
the magnetic field is 2.0 cm.
• If the flux density in the air gap is 0.2 T, calculate the
deflecting torque, in newton metres, when a current of
15 mA flows through the coil.

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Thursday, June 8, 2023 Electrical Measuring Instruments 34

Solution :
Since the coil has 421/2 turns, its one side has 42
conductors and the other side has 43 conductors. The
force on the side having 42 conductors,

F1 = IBl  n = 0.015  0.2  0.02  42 = 2520 10−6 N

The force on the other side of the coil having 43
conductors,
F2 = IBl  n = 0.015  0.2  0.02  43 = 2580 10−6 N
  d =  1 +  2 = F1r + F2 r Click

= ( F1 + F2 )r = (2520 + 2580) 10−6  0.0125

= 63.75×10-6 Nm
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Thursday, June 8, 2023 Electrical Measuring Instruments 35

Dynamometer Type Instruments

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• These are similar to PMMC, except that the permanent

magnet is replaced by a fixed coil.
• The coil is divided into two halves, connected in series with
the moving coil.
• The two halves of the coil are placed close together and
parallel to each other, to provide uniform field.
• The deflecting torque depends on the fields of both fixed
and moving coils.
• That is, in an ammeter, the torque is roughly proportional to
the current squared.
• It has square-law response.
• The deflection is proportional to the mean value of the
square of the current.
• When used on ac, it indicates root mean square (r.m.s) or
effective value of current (or voltage).

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Thursday, June 8, 2023 Electrical Measuring Instruments 37

An ammeter. A voltmeter
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• Though this instrument can be used as an ammeter or a

voltmeter, but it works very well as a power meter (i.e.,
wattmeter).

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Thursday, June 8, 2023 Electrical Measuring Instruments 39

Advantages
• Can be used on both dc as well as ac systems.

• No errors due to hysteresis or eddy currents.

• Currents up to 10 Amps and voltages up to 600 Volts

can be measured with good accuracy.
• Same calibration for dc and ac measurements, and
hence can be used as transfer instruments.

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Thursday, June 8, 2023 Electrical Measuring Instruments 40

Disadvantages
• The scale is not uniform, as they have square-law
response.
• Since air-cored coils are used, the magnetic field
produced is weak. Hence, a large ampere-turns is
needed.
• Heavy moving system gives more friction losses.

• Screening against stray magnetic fields required.

• Lower sensitivity than that of PMMC instruments.

• More expensive than the PMMC instruments.

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Thursday, June 8, 2023 Electrical Measuring Instruments 41

MOVING IRON INSTRUMENTS

• Robust and quite inexpensive.
• Used in Labs and switch-boards.
• Can work on both dc and ac.
• Two types :
• Attraction type
• Repulsion type.

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Thursday, June 8, 2023 Electrical Measuring Instruments 42

Attraction (or Single-Iron) Type

Moving-Iron Instrument

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• It has an air-cored coil and a moving iron piece.

• When current flows through the coil, magnetic field is
produced.
• The iron piece moves from weaker field to stronger
field.
• The iron piece is designed to give a uniform scale.
• Gravity control or spring control is used.
• When the current reverses, both the field produced and
the magnetism induced reverse together.
• Hence the instrument is unpolarized.
• Can be used on dc and ac.

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Thursday, June 8, 2023 Electrical Measuring Instruments 44

Repulsion (or Double-Iron) Type

Moving-Iron Instrument

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• It uses two pieces of iron inside the coil; one is fixed

and the other moving.
• When current flows, two iron pieces are magnetized in
the same direction.
• A repulsive force is generated between them.
• The moving iron piece deflects and so does the
pointer.
• It commonly has spring control and air damping.
• The deflecting torque is proportional to the current
squared.
• Can work on both dc and ac.

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 Thursday, June 8, 2023 Electrical Measuring Instruments 46

Advantages

i. Robust and simple in construction and hence quite inexpensive

ii. Can be used on dc as well as on ac systems
iii. Can withstand overloads momentarily.
iv. High deflecting torque.

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Thursday, June 8, 2023 Electrical Measuring Instruments 47

Disadvantages
i. The scale is not uniform.
ii. The power consumption (for low voltages) is high.
iii. Errors are caused due to hysteresis in the iron.
iv. Operation affected by stray magnetic fields.
v. Change in frequency in case of ac measurements causes
serious errors.

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Thursday, June 8, 2023 Electrical Measuring Instruments 48

AMMETERS AND VOLTMETERS

• Consider a d’Arsonval movement having current
sensitivity (CS) of 0.1 mA and internal resistance (Rm)
of 500 Ω.
• The full-scale deflection current, Im, for this instrument
is 0.1 mA.
• When full-scale current flows, the voltage across its
terminals is given as
Vm = I m  Rm = (0.1 mA)  (500 ) = 50 mV
• So, it can serve either as an ammeter of range 0 - 0.1
mA, or as a voltmeter of range 0 - 50 mV.
• We need to extend the range of the meter, by providing
a suitable additional circuitry.
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Thursday, June 8, 2023 Electrical Measuring Instruments 49

Ammeters
• Connected in series in circuits.
• Low impedance (resistance) so as not to affect the circuit.
• Constructed by adding a low resistance (or shunt or bypass
resistor) in parallel with the meter.

M
Ammeter

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Thursday, June 8, 2023 Electrical Measuring Instruments 50

Ammeters

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The ratio Ifsd/Im = N is called the range-multiplier.

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Since the voltage across the parallel elements must be the

same,
I m Rm = ( I fsd − I m ) Rsh Click

I m Rm
 Rsh =
( I fsd − I m )
I m Rm Rm Rm
or Rsh = = =
( I fsd − I m ) ( I fsd / I m − 1) ( N − 1)

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Example 2
• A meter movement with full-scale-deflection current of
100 μA and internal resistance of 100 Ω is required to
measure a maximum current of 10 mA.
• Determine the shunt resistance needed.
Solution : Click
Ish = I fsd − I m = 10 mA − 100 μA = 9.9 mA
I m Rm = I sh Rsh
I m Rm 100 100 10−6
or Rsh = = −3
= 1.010101 Ω
I sh 9.9 10
Note : It is impracticable to obtain resistors of such low values and
that too so precise and accurate. A very novel idea, called
universal-shunt or ring-shunt method, is employed.
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Thursday, June 8, 2023 Electrical Measuring Instruments 54

A multi-range ammeter.

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Universal shunt for multi-range milliammeter

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Example 3
An ammeter uses a meter with an internal resistance of
600  and a rating of 1 mA fsd. How can it be used to
measure 20 A fs?
Im
Solution : Maximum current through
meter is Im = 0.001 A. M Rm

Therefore, the shunt resistor must take Rsh

Ish = 19.999 A Ish

Because both M and Rsh are in parallel, the same V must

be dropped across both
V = Im Rm = 0.001 A x 600 Ω = 0.6 V Click
Thus, Rsh must be V / IR = 0.6 V / 19.999 A
= 0.0300015.. 
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 Thursday, June 8, 2023 Electrical Measuring Instruments 57

Ammeter Sensitivity
• Measured in ohms/amp; should be as low /A (small V
drop) as possible.
• Sensitive ammeters need large indicator changes for small
current.
Click
• Example : (1) A 0.01 /A meter with 5 A fsd,
Rm = /A x A = 0.01 x 5 = 0.05 
Vmax across the Meter will be
5 A x 0.05  = 0.25 V for fs.
(2) A 0.1 /A meter with 5 A fsd, Click
will drop 2.5 V (i.e., it is 10 times less
sensitive), which may bias the results.

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 Thursday, June 8, 2023 Electrical Measuring Instruments 58

Ammeter loading
• Significant where ammeters are used in circuits
with components of resistance comparable to
that of the meter.
1.0 
What is the current
+ in the circuit ?
1.0 V A
- Is it i=1V/1Ω=1A?

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Thursday, June 8, 2023 Electrical Measuring Instruments 59

• Now, suppose that the meter has a

resistance of 1 .
• How much will be current in the circuit ?
• Obviously, the current in the circuit will be
halved !
Click
When working with low value resistors, be
sure to use very low impedance ammeters.

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Thursday, June 8, 2023 Electrical Measuring Instruments 60

Voltmeters
• Connections to circuits and components in parallel.
• High impedance (resistance) so as not to affect
circuit.
• Constructed by adding a high resistance (R) in
series with an electrically sensitive meter (M).

M
R
Voltmeter

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Thursday, June 8, 2023 Electrical Measuring Instruments 61

Extending the Range of Voltmeters

Suppose that we want to extend the voltage range of

this basic meter to 0-10 V.

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Thursday, June 8, 2023 Electrical Measuring Instruments 62

The total resistance RT must be such that

V 10 V
V = I m RT or RT = = = 100 kΩ
I m 0.1 mA

 Rs = RT − Rm = 100 k − 0.5 k = 99.5 kΩ

Now, suppose that the range of a basic meter is to be

extended to Vfsd volts. Then, we should have
Vfsd
Vfsd = I m ( Rm + Rs ) or Rs = − Rm
Im
The series resistor Rs is also called a range-multiplier,
as it multiplies the voltage range.
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Thursday, June 8, 2023 Electrical Measuring Instruments 63

Multi-range Voltmeter

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The range-switch puts in different multipliers for

different ranges, as shown below
Switch position at Net series resistance, Rs
10 V 99.5 kΩ = 99.5 kΩ
50 V 400 kΩ + 99.5 kΩ = 499.5 kΩ
100 V 500 kΩ + 400 kΩ + 99.5 kΩ = 999.5 kΩ
500 V 4000 kΩ + 500 kΩ + 400 kΩ + 99.5 kΩ = 4999.5 kΩ

Most multimeters employ the same scale for different

values of maximum voltage (and/or current). For example,
there are four voltage ranges but only two scales.

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Thursday, June 8, 2023 Electrical Measuring Instruments 65

AC Voltage Measurement

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Example 4
A meter is rated at 1 mA fsd and has an internal resistance of
2000 Ω. How can it be used to measure 100 V fsd ?
Click
Solution :

Rm
M Rs Click
1 mA

Vm = 2 V Vs = 98 V RT = Rs + Rm
Click
Maximum voltage that can be put across galvanometer is
Vm = I Rm = 0.001 x 2000 = 2.0 V
Thus, Vs = VT - Vm = 100 V - 2 V = 98 V
This voltage must be dropped across Rs. Therefore,
Rs = Vs/I = 98 V / 0.001 A = 98 kΩ
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Thursday, June 8, 2023 Electrical Measuring Instruments 67

Voltage Scaling or Multiplying Factor

It is defined as the number of times the voltage range
is increased. Thus,

Vfsd Vfsd
n= =
Vm I m Rm

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 Thursday, June 8, 2023 Electrical Measuring Instruments 68

Example 5
• A 50-μA meter movement with an internal
resistance of 1 kΩ is to be used as a dc voltmeter of
range 50 V. Calculate
(a) the multiplier resistance needed, and
(b) the voltage multiplying factor.

Solution : Here, Im = 50 μA, and Rm = 1 kΩ. Click

(a) The series resistance needed is given as
Vfsd 50 V
Rs = − Rm = − 1000 = 999 kΩ
Im 50 μA Click
Vfsd Vfsd 50
(b) n = = = −6
= 1000
Vm I m Rm 50 10 110 3

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 Thursday, June 8, 2023 Electrical Measuring Instruments 69

Meter Sensitivity
(Ohms-per-Volt Rating)
• Measured in Ω/V.
• Higher the sensitivity, more accurate is the measurement.
• If current sensitivity (CS) of a meter is known, its Ω/V
rating can easily be determined.
• Consider a basic meter with CS of 100 μA.
• If used as a voltmeter of range 1 V,
RT = 1 V / 100 μA = 10 kΩ
• Thus, the meter sensitivity is simply 10 kΩ/V.

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In general,
1
ohms - per - volt rating =
current sensitivit y

• Note that if the same meter was used for 2 V range,

the required RT would be 20 kΩ.
• Its ohms/volt rating is 20 kΩ / 2 V = 10 kΩ/V.
• The ohms-per-volt rating does not depend on the range
of the voltmeter.

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• Also, note that the range of a voltmeter (or an

ammeter) is changed by switching in another resistor in
the circuit.
• Therefore, for a given range the internal resistance of
the voltmeter remains the same irrespective of the
deflection of the pointer.

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Thursday, June 8, 2023 Electrical Measuring Instruments 72

Voltmeter Loading
• A voltmeter, when connected, acts as a shunt for that
portion of the circuit.
• This reduces the resistance of that portion.
• Hence, the meter gives a lower reading.
• This effect is called the loading effect of the meter.

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Thursday, June 8, 2023 Electrical Measuring Instruments 73

Example 6
• It is desired to measure the voltage across the 50-kΩ
resistor in the circuit.
• Two voltmeters are available for this measurement.
Voltmeter-A has a sensitivity of 1000 Ω/V and
voltmeter-B has a sensitivity of 20 000 Ω/V.
• Both meters are used on their 50-V range.
• Calculate
(a) the reading of each meter, and
(b) the error in each reading, expressed as a percentage
of the true value.

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 Thursday, June 8, 2023 Electrical Measuring Instruments 74

Solution : The true value of the voltage across A-B,

50 kΩ
Vt = (150 V ) = 50 V
100 kΩ + 50 kΩ

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 Thursday, June 8, 2023 Electrical Measuring Instruments 75

(a) Voltmeter-A
Click
The internal resistance,
Ri1 = Sensitivity  Range = (1000  / V)  (50 V) = 50 kΩ
When connected, the equivalent parallel resistance across A-B
is 50 kΩ || 50 kΩ = 25 kΩ. Hence, reading of voltmeter,
Click
25 kΩ
V1 = (150 V ) = 30 V
100 kΩ + 25 kΩ
Voltmeter-B
Ri 2 = Sensitivity  Range = (20000  / V)  (50 V) = 1000 kΩ
RA-B Eq = (50 k) || (1000 k) = 47.6 
Click
47.6 kΩ
 V2 = (150 V )  = 48.36 V
100 kΩ + 47.6 kΩ

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 Thursday, June 8, 2023 Electrical Measuring Instruments 76

(b) Error in reading of Voltmeter-A,

Vt − V1 50 − 30
% Error = 100 % = 100 % = 40 %
Vt 50
Error in reading of Voltmeter-B, Click
Vt − V2 50 − 48.36
% Error = 100 % = 100 % = 3.28 %
Vt 50

Note the voltmeter with higher sensitivity gives more

accurate results, since it produces less loading effect on
the circuit.

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Thursday, June 8, 2023 Electrical Measuring Instruments 77

RESISTANCE MEASUREMENT
• The instrument is called ohmmeter.
• Three types :
1. Shunt-Type Ohmmeter : For low value resistors.

2. Series-Type Ohmmeter : For medium-value resistors.

3. Meggar-Type Ohmmeter : For high-value resistances, such as the
insulation of a cable.

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 Thursday, June 8, 2023 Electrical Measuring Instruments 78

Shunt-Type Ohmmeter

When Rx = 0, no current in meter.

When Rx = , entire current flows through the meter.
Proper selection of R1 gives full-scale deflection on open
circuit.

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Thursday, June 8, 2023 Electrical Measuring Instruments 79

Series-Type Ohmmeter
RT is pre-set resistor.
R0 is zero-adjust
resistor. It compensate
for the decrease in
battery voltage E with
ageing.
Rs limits the current to
fsd.

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Thursday, June 8, 2023 Electrical Measuring Instruments 80

• When X-Y shorted, the current is maximum (fsd).

• When X-Y open, the current is zero.
• Thus the scale is inverted.
• Different ranges are obtained by switching in different Rs
Caution
• Never connect to an energized circuit.
• Make sure that there is no parallel branch across the resistance
you are measuring.

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Thursday, June 8, 2023 Electrical Measuring Instruments 81

The current and resistance scales.

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Thursday, June 8, 2023 Electrical Measuring Instruments 82

Analog
Multimeter
Information provided as
a “pointer location
against a scale” which
must be converted by
the user into numerical
data.

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Thursday, June 8, 2023 Electrical Measuring Instruments 83

Digital Multimeter

1.234V

Information provided directly in numerical form.

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Thursday, June 8, 2023 Electrical Measuring Instruments 84

Dynamometer Wattmeter

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Thursday, June 8, 2023 Electrical Measuring Instruments 85

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Thursday, June 8, 2023 Electrical Measuring Instruments 86

Using dynamometer wattmeter to measure power

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Thursday, June 8, 2023 Electrical Measuring Instruments 87

• When used in an ac circuit, the deflection is proportional to the

product of the voltage and the in-phase component of the
current.
• Hence, the instrument measures the active power.

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Thursday, June 8, 2023 Electrical Measuring Instruments 88

MEASUREMENT OF ENERGY
• Usually, motor meters.
• For dc circuits, the meter may be an ampere-hour meter (if the
voltage is assumed to remain constant) or a watt-hour meter.
• Energy meters are integrating instruments.
• The speed of rotation is proportional to the power (in case of
watt-hour meter) and to the current (in case of ampere-hour
meter).
• Thus the total number of rotations made by the moving system
is proportional to the energy supplied to the load in a given time
interval.
• Every energy meter is marked for its meter constant.
• It gives the number of rotations per kilowatt hour (kW h) of
energy.

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Thursday, June 8, 2023 Electrical Measuring Instruments 89

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Thursday, June 8, 2023 Electrical Measuring Instruments 90

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 Thursday, June 8, 2023 Electrical Measuring Instruments 91

Review
• Essentials of an Instrument.
• Controlling Torque.
• Damping Torque.
• Dynamometer Type Instruments.
• Digital Multimeter.
• Analog Multimeter.
• Voltmeters.
• Voltmeter Sensitivity.
• Voltmeter loading.

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Thursday, June 8, 2023 Electrical Measuring Instruments 92

• Ammeters.
• Ammeter Sensitivity.
• Ammeter loading.

• Ohm-meters.
• Wattmeter.
• Watthour Meter.

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