Electrical Measurement

Standards
A considerable number of system of units have been used at various times during
human history.
Unit: The result of a measurement of physical quantity must be defined in kind
and magnitude. The standard measure of each kind of physical quantity is
called unit
Measurement implies comparison with standard value
Without units , the number obtained
by measuring has no physical
meaning.
Systems of Units
French system - Universal system of standard
FPS Foot Pound Second The British
CGS Centimeter Gram Second-designed for practical
engg.applications
MTS-Meter Ton Second in France designed for engg purpose
SI Meter Kilogram Second Ampere
Standard Organizations to maintain International System of Units (SI)
1. International Bureau of Weights& Measures
2. General Conference on Weights & Measures
3. International Committee for Weight & Measures
Standards and their classification
What is a standard ?
Physical representation of a unit of measurement
applied to a piece of equipment having a known measure of physical
quantity
For example fundamental unit of mass, fundamental unit of length
Do standards have classification ?
Standards are classified on the basis of their function or application
International standards, primary standards, secondary standards,
working standards
Categories

1. International Standards
2. Primary standard
3. Secondary Standard
4. Working standards
International Standards

defined by international agreement maintained at International

Bureau of Weights and Measures (one organization for SI unit)
Not available to ordinary uses
International Standards
Represent those units of measurement which are closest to the
possible accuracy attainable with present technological and scientific
methods
Checked and evaluated regularly
Followed across the globe
Not available to ordinary user of measuring instruments for purpose
of calibration or comparison
Primary or Basic Standards

Maintained by National standard labs of each country

India National Physical Lab in New Delhi

Not available outside National Labs

Primary standards
Used as absolute reference standards
Available with a high accuracy index
Maintained at national standards laboratories in different part of the
world
Represent the fundamental units and some derived electrical and
mechanical units
Not available for use outside national laboratories
Used for verification and calibration of secondary standards
Secondary standards

basic reference standards for industrial measurement labs

Maintained by particular industry
Checked locally
Occasionally sent to primary lab for calibration,then primary labs will
give certificate
Secondary standards
Basic reference standards used in industrial measurement
laboratories
Their maintenance and calibration lies with particular industry
involved
Checked with reference standards available locally in the area
Normally these standards are sent to national laboratories for
calibration and comparison
Working standard

Primary tool of measuring labs

Working standards
Major tools of a measurement laboratory
Used to check and calibrate general laboratory instruments for their
accuracy and performance
For example a manufacturer of precision resistance may use a
standard resistance in quality control department for checking values
of the manufactured
Temperature standards
 The magnitude of the Kelvin has been fixed by defining the
thermodynamic temperature of the triple point of water at exactly
273.16degree K.
The triple point of water is the temperature at which equilibrium
between ice liquid water and its vapour.
The Celsius scale has two fundamental points the boiling point of
water as 100degree C and triple point of water as 0.01degreeC both
points are established at atmospheric pressure.
Electrical standards
 The unit of current can be established in terms of physical dimensions
of a current balance which measures the force exerted between two
current carrying coils.
An absolute volt can be obtained by passing an absolute ampere
through an absolute ohm.
Emf standards
 The positive electrode is mercury and the negative electrode is an amalgam of cadmium which of
1part of cadmium and 7parts of mercury.
The electrolyte is a saturated solution of cadmium sulphate. A paste of mercurous sulphate is
placed on the top of the mercury.
This acts as depolarizing agent. An excess of solid crystals of Cdso4 8H20 cadmium sulphate in the
electrolyte space and the depolarizer assures that the solution will be saturated at all
temperatures.
As long as the amalgam of has both solid and liquid phase present , the emf of the cell remains
absolutely constant.
 The emf of the cell is 1.01864volt. The emf of the cell changes with temperature .
The cell voltage drops by about 40microV/degree C. the cell is kept in an oil bath to control its
temperature with in 0.01degreeC. The cell has a long life if handled carefully. It has life span of
about 10 to 20 years.The drift in the value of voltage is about 1micrvolt per year.
Precautions:
Mercurours sulphate is sensitive to light and it should not be exposed to light.
It has been mentioned that the cell has temperature coefficient of about -40microV/degreeC. In
that it has effect 310microV/degreeC at positive terminal and -350microV/degreeC at negative
terminal It is important to keep cell at uniform temperature to secure as much cancellation of
positive and negative effects.
Saturated cells should be kept in an upright position because if they are tilted there is always
danger of mixing of electrode materials.
 The principal limitation of the use of standard cells is the current drawn from the
cell at any time.
A voltmeter should never be used for measuring the voltage of the standard cell.
Because the current drain , there is a possibility of damage cell and this
measurement is meaningless since the cells have a high internal resistance of 600
to 800ohm. The voltage should be measured with the help of potentiometer only
because at balance the current drawn from the cell is zero
Secondary standard emf
Secondary standard of emf is unsaturated weston cell.
The unsaturated cell is similar to a saturated cell except that it does not have the cadmium
sulphate crystals. It has electrodes but the solution is saturated at 4degree C.
A Sputum or porous plugs is used over each electrode to hold material in place and hence these
cells are considered portable.
After being moved from one place to another , the cell should be allowed a few days to settle so
that the results obtained from measurements involving cells are accurate.
An unsaturated cell has a shorter life than a saturated type, yet experience has shown that some
cells last even 20yrs. The decrease in emf is about 30 to 50micro V per year.
 The cells are enclosed in bakelite case which is lined with 1.5mm thick
copper to help keep all parts of cell at uniform temperature.
Not all unsaturated cells have the same emf, the emf of unsaturated
cells lies between 1.0180 to 1.0194 volt. Therefore each cell must be
calibrated against the primary standard in order to know its exact
emf.
 Precautions:
Unsaturated cells should not be operated at temperatures below
4degree C and above 40degreeC
Below 4degree C the emf drops rapidly and eventually the electrolyte
freezes ,above 40degree C the cell materials start to melt and voltage
drops sharply .
Laboratory standards
Silicon diodes have voltage current characteristics such that an extremely sharp
reverse current occurs ar a point on the voltage curve known as zener voltage.
The point indicates a breakdown of the diode under reverse voltage applications
For voltage standard applications zener diode s have a low dynamic impedance
and low temperature coefficient of impedance
 Advantages:
Commercial voltage reference using zener diodes plus additional circuitry to improve regulation
and stability are available with voltage outputs which allows them to be substituted for standard
cell
The advantage of these standards over standard cell is the semiconductor device is immune to
the effects of short circuit and overload conditions
Chemical cells can be built to voltage level of about 1 volt while zener sources can be built to any
voltage level.
Spring board or other applications where vibrations is constantly present not suitable for
chemical cells. The zener which are rugged may furnish the accuracy requires under such
conditions.
The constant voltage drop of a zener diode may be utilized in voltage regulators, compensators,
limiters, clippers, voltage reference units and voltage standards.
Resistance standards
The absolute value of ohm is defined in terms of fundamental units of length and mass.
Absolute measurement of the ohm is done against a group of resistance standards, which are
maintained at the international Bureau of weights and measures at severes.
This group is periodically checked against each other and with similar group of standards kept at
other standards in the world
The resistance wire made from an alloy like Manganin the constituition of Manganin is Nickel 4%,
copper 84% and Manganese 12%
It has following properties a) high resistivity of 48*10-8 ohm m
It has low temperature coefficient of resistance which is 40*10-6degree/C at 20degree C
It has low thermal emf with copper which is below 3microV/degreeC
 The errors which occur in these resistance are:
Due to skin effect when they are used at high frequencies. These errors are minimized by using
wires of small diameter
Due to stray inductance and capacitance. The stray inductance can be reduced by arranging the
adjacent wires to carry current in the opposite direction so as to reduce resultant the magnetic
field.
The stray capacitance can be reduced by arranging the adjacent wires to be widely spaced and to
have minimal potential difference between them.
Due to contact resistance of the terminals in case of low value standards
Standards of Inductance
The values of standards of both self and mutual inductance depend upon their physical
dimensions together with the number of turns of the inductance coil.
While designing and constructing inductance standards , the following considerations to be taken:
1) the design and construction should be such that accurate relation ship exists relating the values
of inductance with physical dimensions
The design should be such that accurate measurement of physical dimensions is possible
The materials used should be workable mechanically
The materials used to be such that the value of inductance remains constant irrespective of the
environmental conditions a) should not change with time, temperature and humidity
b) inductance should be independent of the value of the current passing. This means that no
Ferro magnetic materials be used.
Air cored coils should be used for standards of inductance
 The resistance of the windings should be very low as compared with their inductance of the
inductor have high L/R ratio.
This ratio of inductive reactance to resistance of coil is known as Q factor or storage factor.
The effective inductance and resistance should be affected to a minimum by frequency: this
requires
There should be minimum losses. Ferro magnetic materials should never be used as eddy current
losses in them are applicable. The use of inductors having Ferro magnetic cores is completely
ruled out for high frequency applications
The coils should use standard wires otherwise effected with eddy current losses
The use of metallic parts should be avoided as eddy currents induced in them affect the value of
inductance.
The inductor should be so designed that capacitive effects are negligible.
The inductor should be desirably un-effected by external magnetic fields and should produce
minimum interfering field.
`
Formers for inductance coils: marbles is used for making formers or bobbins for
the coils. The reason for selecting marble is that it does not wrap and is
unaffected by atmospheric conditions
It acts as a perfect insulator and a non magnetic material. It has low temperature
coefficient
The shape of the coils should be such that a high L/R ratio is obtained.
The L/R is maximum for a coil of simple circular shape with square cross section,
with mean diameter of coil is equal to about 3times its depth. High value of L/R
can be obtained by using greater weights of copper or by using iron core
Primary standard for mutual inductance

These standards are always fixed standards i.e single valued

It consists of single layer primary coil of bare copper wire wound under tension in grooves
machined in a cylinder of marble
The primary coil is divided into two parts. Two parts are connected in series and are separated
from each other by distance of three times axial length of each
The secondary coil has many layers and is placed in a channel cut in marble cylinder. The
secondary coil has diameter of about one and half times the diameter of the primary coil and is
situated midway between two halves of the primary coil.
This arrangement is used in order that the secondary winding lies in a position of almost zero
field.
Secondary and working standards
These standards may be fixed or variable.
The requirements of secondary standards are that their inductance should not vary with time and
temperature and should be independent of supply frequency.
Their dimensions need not be accurately determined
Secondary standards usually consists of two coils wound on a marble or hard par-affined wood
former. The coils are separated by flange. The wire is of standard copper in order to reduce the
effects of eddy currents.
After winding the coils and former are immersed in hot paraffin wax
Variable standards are frequently used in laboratories and are known as inductometers. They
consists of two sets of coils one fixed and other movable so that the mutual inductance could be
varied
Standards of self inductance
Primary standard:
Normally primary standard of self inductance are rarely prepared and the primary standard for
mutual inductance is taken as primary standard of self inductance.
Secondary standard and working standards:
Coils for use as secondary standards are wound with silk covered standard copper wire. The
formers are made of marble. After winding the coils are immersed in melted paraffin wax for
sometime.
Capacitance standards
Primary standards: the dimensions of such capacitors should be very accurately known in order
that a primary standard is constructed.
Air is usually used as the dielectric as it is the only dielectric whose permittivity is definitely
known and which is free from absorption and dielectric loss.
Three types of constructions have been used for primary standards:
Two concentric spheres
Two concentric cylinders
Two parallel plates with guard rings
 The capacitance is calculated by assuming no fringing and hence a guard ring
construction is necessary. Guard rings are maintained at same potential as the
other cylinder but are not directly connected to it.
Any fringing takes place between outer edges of guard ring and there is no
fringing of electrostatic field between the outer and inner cylinder. The supports
are made of insulating materials like quartz.
The disadvantages of air as dielectric in such capacitors are as follows:
Dielectric strength is low
Larger in size
Dust particles
There is no solid dielectric between the plates to act as spacer, but the plates must be rigidly
fixed in position by supports of solid dielectric
 Air capacitors have extremely low losses usually assumed zero, if the dielectric which supports
the insulated electrodes is a good insulating material and is placed in region of low field strength.
Vacuum and gas filled capacitors:
1) vacuum and gas filled capacitors are designed for high voltage and high frequency applications.
They are not effected by variations in temperature, moisture content and humidity
2)they are rugged and their calibration holds good over a long range of time. They have low
power dissipation and not permanently damaged by over voltages.(ie)They are self healing type.
3) Vacuum capacitors are manufactures with capacitance values ranging from 50 pF to 500pF. The
maximum voltage level is 10kV. The breakdown strength of gases increases proportion to the
pressure while their dielectric constant remains unaffected.
4) The high voltage capacitors are kept in pressure vessels which are filled with nitrogen
compressed to pressure of about 16 atmospheres. These capacitors are used for voltage up to
1500kV and have value of 20 to 200pF.