WHEAT STONE BRIDGE

AIM :- TO MEASURE THE UNKNOWN VALUE OF RESISTANCE USING

WHEATSTONE BRIDGE .
APPARATUS :- (1)

PHYISTECHS WHEATSTONE BRIDGE TRAINER

(2)

CRO

(3)

BNC PROBES AND CONNECTION WIRES.

THEORY :- A Very important device used in the measurement of medium

resistances in the Wheatstone bridge. A Wheatstone bridge has been in used longer
than almost any electrical measuring instrument . It is still an accurate and
reliable instrument and extensively used in industry. The Wheatstone bridge is an
instrument for making comparison measurements and operates upon a null
indicating instrument or any of its characteristics for the reason very high degrees
of accuracy can be achieved using Wheatstone bridge. Accuracy of o.1% is quite
common with a Wheatstone bridge as opposed to accuracies of 3% to 5% with
ordinary ohm-meter for measurements of medium . By combining these three
equations and simplifying we obtain
R1+ R =
R1

R2+ R
R2

from which

R1 R 4

R2 R 3

This equation is the expression for balance of the Wheatstone bridge. If three of the
resistances have known values the fourth may be determined from this equation.
R
R
Hence of 4 is the unknown resistor its resistance x can be expressed in terms
of remaining resistors as follows.
Rv =

Resistor

R3

R2 R 3
R

is called the standard arm of the bridge and resistor

R2R1
R

are

x
called the ratio arms. The measurements of the unknown resistance
is
independent of the characteristics or the calibration of the null detecting
galvanometer provided that the null detector has sufficient sensitivity to indicate
the balance position of the bridge with the required degree of precision

FIGURE :- WHEATSTONE BRIDGE

LIMITATIONS

OF WHEATSTONE

BRIDGE

The use of Wheatstone bridge is limited to the measurement of resistance ranging

from few ohm-meter to several mega-ohm. The upper limit is set by the
reduction in sensitivity to unbalance caused by high resistance value. The upper
limit can be extended to a certain extent by increasing the EMF applied to the
bridge but in this case care has to be taken to avoid over heating of any arm of the
bridge. In accuracy may also be introduced on account of leakage over insulation
of the bridge arms on measuring very high resistances. For measurement of very
high resistances a mega-ohm bridge is preferable.
The lower limit for measurement is set by the resistance of the connecting leads
and by contact resistance at the binding pasts. The error caused by leads may be
connected fairly well, but contact resistance presents a source of uncertainty that is
difficult to overcome. The lower limit for accruable measurement is in the
neighborhood of 1 to 5 ohm. For low resistance measurements therefore a Kelvin
bridge is generally preferred.
PROCEDURE :
*Connect the AF oscillator output to the AF input of isolation transformer.
*Connect AC terminals of transformer output to the AC terminals of the bridge
circuit.

*Connect the unknown resistor provided on the trainer in the arm marked,
select any particular values for

Ra

and

R2 R 3

*Switch on PHYSITECHS Wheatstone bridge trainer

*Observer the sine waves at the secondary of the isolation transformer on CRO
*Connect the BD terminals of the bridge to the BD terminals of an imbalance
amplifier and connect the CRO at the output of the imbalance amplifier.
R R .

R R

*Select particular values for 2 3 If the selection of 2 3 is correct the

balance or null point can be observed on oscilloscope i.e., the amplitude of the
R
output waveform comes to a minimum for a particular value of 1 then again
increase by varying

R1

select another value of

in the same clockwise direction. If that is not the case

R2 R3 .

*The null condition can also be observed by using loud speaker connect the output
of the bridge to the input of the imbalance amplifier connect the amplifier output to
R R for
the speaker terminals. Adjust 2 3
a minimum sound in the loud speaker.
*The process of manipulation of these resistances is typical of the general
balancing procedure for bridges and is said to cause convergence of the balance
point.
*Calculate the value of unknown resistance using the formula given on the trainer
R R R
by substituting the measured values of 1 2 3 of the balance point.