Q Meters Theory

Measurement (Miscellaneous)
Miscellaneous
Objectives
Upon completion of this chapter you will be able to:
 Measure Voltages using Potentiometer.

 Measure small Resistance using Potentiometer.
 Measure Quality Factor of unknown coil using Q-meter.
 Measure unknown capacitance using Q-meter.
 Measure Self Capacitance of Coil using Q-meter.
 Determine Ratio Error and Phase Angle Error for Instrument Transformers.
Introduction
A Potentiometer is a device which is designed to measure unknown voltages by comparing it

with known voltage whose source may be a standard cell. Such measurements have high
accuracy as they do not depend on deflection of pointer unlike Indicating Instruments.
Q-meters are designed to measure effective Quality Factor of a coil without measuring the
inductance and resistance of that coil separately. It is very useful in measuring characteristics
of coils and capacitors.
The Transformers used in conjunction with measuring instruments for the purpose of
enhancement of the range of an instrument. High Current and Voltage measurement directly
may be uneconomical and hence these must be stepped down before measurement.
Potentiometer/Null detector
Potentiometer is a null detector type of Instrument i.e. we get the measurement when the
galvanometer shows zero deflection. So, a big advantage of Potentiometer is that no current
flows in the circuit containing unknown cell and hence no energy is consumed from that cell.
Potentiometer is based on the principle of Voltage division which is illustrated below by an

example. Here we have a movable contact which can move over the slide wire of length l1
and balancing length i.e. length for zero deflection is l2.
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Under balance condition, no current flows through

Galvanometer and hence,
Vx  V2
By Potential Divider Rule,
V2 R 2 l2
 
V1 R1 l1
If l1  1m & l2  60cm
60
Vx   10  6V
100
Hence, in a Potentiometer Vx  lx where lx is balancing length.
Practical Arrangement
The figure shown below shows the practical

arrangement of a potentiometer.
In the figure shown we have a battery VB
that provides the working current so that
we can have a voltage drop across the
slide wire. This battery is connected in series
with a Rheostat to control the working
current. We have a sliding contact which
can be moved along the slide wire to
attain balance. This Sliding Contact is also
known as Jockey.
We have two batteries Vs which is a
Standard Cell and Vx which is a unknown
battery and will be measured by comparison with Vs.
Iw  Working current
VB
Iw  , where l = length of slide wire having a resistance r  per unit length
R w  l.r

When switch is connected at A and we have balancing condition then Ig  0 ,
Assume balancing length is given by l1

Vs  Iw l1 r
V
Iw  s
l1 r
Now, the switch is moved to B and we have balancing condition corresponding to a
balancing length of l2
Vx  Iw l2 r
Vx
Iw 
l2 r
Hence, by equating working current both at A and B
Vs Vx

l1 r l2 r
l2
Hence, Vx  Vs
l1
Applications of Potentiometer
It is used to measure
1) Unknown battery voltages
2) Low values of Resistances
3) Non-electrical quantities like displacement, pressure, force etc.
It is also used for Calibration of voltmeter, Ammeter and Wattmeter.
Measurement of Low Resistance
The arrangement for measurement of low resistances is shown in the figure below. The basic
idea behind this arrangement is to convert the value of resistance into an equivalent voltage
which can then be measured using Potentiometer.
Here, we consider two resistances out of which one is a Standard Resistance S and other is
an unknown resistance R. This method also works on the principle of comparison of these
two values.

When switch is connected at AB,

Voltage measured by Potentiometer,
VR  IR
VR
I
R
Now, the switch is connected at CD
Vs  IS
Vs
I
S
From both equations we get,
V V
I R  s
R S
VR
R .S
Vs
The balancing lengths corresponding to VR and VS are lR and lS respectively
VR l
Hence, R  .S  R .S
Vs ls
Solved Examples
Problem: A potentiometer using a standard cell of 2V and has a slide wire has a length of
2m, the standard cell is balanced at 150cm position of slide wire, the low resistance is
measured using potentiometer and voltage across this low resistance is balanced at 125cm
and the voltage across standard resistance of 2.5mΩ is balanced at 175cm. Find unknown
resistance.
Solution: The balancing length corresponding to R is 125cm and balancing length

corresponding to S= 2.5 mΩ is 175 cm.
lR 125
Hence, R  .S  2.5  1.785 mΩ
ls 175

Problem: A d.c. potentiometer is designed to measure up to about 2 v with a slide wire of

800 mm. A standard cell of emf 1.18v obtains balance at 600 mm. A test cell is seen to obtain
balance at 680 mm. The emf of the test cell is?
V2 l2
Solution: 
V1 l1
V2 680

1.18 600
680
V2  x1.18  1.337 V
600
Q – Meter/ Voltage Magnifier
Q-meter works on the principle of series resonance. The test coil is connected in series with a
variable capacitor and by varying the capacitance the circuit is resonated and the voltmeter
across the capacitor is calibrated in terms of Q of the coil.
At Series Resonance
XL  X C
V
I 
R
VX c VXL
Vc  IXc  
R R
Quality Factor of the coil is given by,
L X L
Q 
R R
Hence, VC  V.Q where V=constant
Therefore, Vc  Q
Applications
Q meter is used to measure
1. unknown Q of the coil
2. unknown capacitance
3. distributed or self-capacitance of a coil
4. unknown inductance from a measured Q value

Practical Q-meter
The practical arrangement of a Q-meter is shown in the figure below. The test coil is
connected between T1 and T2 and the variable capacitor is connected between T3 and T4. The
circuit is resonated using an oscillator which may also have a shunt resistance of its own as
shown in the figure.
Effect of Shunt Resistance on measurement

L
Actual value of Quality Factor of a coil is given by, Q T 
R
L
Measured Q = Q m 
(R  R sh )
L QT
 Qm 
R R
R(1  sh ) (1  sh )
R R
 Rsh 
Q T  Qm 1  
 R 
To reduce the error in the measurement of Q of the coil, the series resistance of oscillator is
maintained low value in mΩ range.
Measurement of Unknown capacitance
The test capacitance is connected across T3 and T4 . The capacitance C is changed up to C1 to

get a resonant condition.

The resonance frequency is given by,
1
f
2 L(C1  CT )
Now we remove the unknown capacitance and the vary the capacitance C to obtain
resonance condition. Assuming under resonance condition C  C2
The resonance frequency is then given by,
1
f
2 LC2
Since, source remains as it is so resonance frequency is also same in both cases. Hence by
comparison we can say,
C1  CT  C2
Test capacitance CT  C2  C1
Measurement of distributed or self-capacitance of coil
The electrical model of a coil having a self or distributed capacitance is shown below,
Ideal Model,
At Low or Medium frequencies,
At High Frequencies,
Cd = self or distributed capacitance
Test coil is connected between T1 and T2 and capacitance is changed up to C1 to get

resonant condition. Assuming under resonance condition C  C1 .

Resonance Frequency is given by,
1
f1 
2 L(C1  Cd )
Now, capacitance C is changed to C  C2
The resonance frequency under this condition is given by,
1
f2   nf1
2 L(C2  Cd )
Substituting the value of f1 we get,
1 n

2 (L(C2  Cd )) 2 (L(C1  Cd ))
C1  n2C2
Cd 
n2  1
Solved Examples
Problem: A reading of 120 is obtained when a standard inductor was connected in the
circuit of a Q-meter and the variable capacitor is adjusted to a value of 300 pF. A lossless
capacitor of unknown value C, is then connected and the same reading was obtained when
the variable capacitor is readjusted to a value of 200 pF. The value of Cx in pF is?
Solution: Here C1  300pF and C2  200pF

Unknown Capacitance, CX  C1  C2  300  200  100pF
Instrument Transformers
 The extension of Instrument range is a very important problem when it comes to

measurement of quantities. The range of Voltmeters and Ammeters can be extended by use
of Shunt and Series Multiplier Resistances.
 But this method is ineffective for AC measurement as the measurement becomes
inaccurate due to Frequency Error.

 Also, when dealing with large currents and voltages the power loss in these resistances is
very high. So, insulation of these instruments also poses a challenge.
 Instrument Transformers step down currents and voltages considerably so that they can
be measured by Instruments of moderate size.
 Current Transformers are used for stepping down the current and Potential Transformers
are used for stepping down the voltages.
 The relation between currents and voltages on two sides of Transformer is given by,
N2 V2 I1
 
N1 V1 I2
Advantages of Instrument Transformers
1. Measures high currents and high voltages.

2. Power consumption is very low.
3. Measuring equipment like voltmeter, Ammeter is isolated from supply so that insulation
requirement is very less.
4. Used for multiple applications like measurement of current, voltage, power, energy and
protective relaying.
5. Easy maintenance.
Current Transformer
The figure below shows the typical arrangement of a Current Transformer with multiple
secondary windings with different devices connected across different windings. The second
figure shows the representation of Current Transformer.

 Since, Current Transformer is used to step down the current, primary winding has single
turn and multiple secondary turns. It is also termed as bar primary.
 The standard secondary current of Current Transformer is 1A or 5A.
 Lower the current rating of the Current Transformer lower the power consumption so
higher the sensitivity of Current Transformer.
 When primary is excited, secondary of Current Transformer cannot be open circuited
because there is no opposing flux produced to the primary flux and hence high voltage is
induced on the secondary which is very dangerous to the people working nearer to the
Current Transformer.
Equivalent circuit of Current Transformer
N2 XL  X s
Turns Ratio, n    tan1( )
N1 RL  R s
Ip N2
Nominal ratio=k=  
Is N1
From the phasor diagram shown below,
OC2  OB2  BC2
 (OA  AB)2  BC2
Ip2  [nIs  Io sin(  )]2  [Io cos(  )]2
Ip2  [n2I2s  I2o sin2 (  )  2nIsIo sin(  )  I2o cos2 (  )]
Ip2  [n2I2s  I2o  2nIsIo sin(  )]
Assume Io 2  n2I2o
Ip2  [n2I2o  2nIsIo sin(  )]
Ip  [n2I2s  2nIsIo sin(  )]1/2

2Io
IP  nIs [1  sin(  )]1/2
nIs
x
By Binomial expansion, (1  x)1/2  1 
2
Io
Ip  nIs [1  sin(  )]
nIs
 nIs  Io sin(  )
Ip Io sin(  )
R n
Is Is
Ip Io sin  cos   Io cos  sin 
R n
Is Is
Iw cos   I sin 
R n
Is
For Purely Resistive burden, δ=0
Errors in Current Transformer
Ratio error
The turns ratio of Current Transformer is not equal to the current ratio due to no-load
component of the current Io . The difference between the two quantities is termed as Ratio
Error.
K R
%r   100
R
N2
K=nominal ratio  n
N1
Ip Iw cos   I sin 
R= Actual ratio  n
Is Is

Phase angle error

 In Ideal Transformer, the Primary to secondary phase current has a phase angle difference
of 180 but in Practical Transformer this angle is less than 180 due to no-load component
of current Io . This will produce error in Current Transformer called Phase angle error.
 This phase angle and ratio error produces maximum error if these are used for
measurement of power using wattmeter and energy due to energy meters and in case of
protective relaying like differential protection produces mal-operation of relay.
BC BC
tan   
OB OA  AB
Io cos(   )
=
nIs  Io sin(   )
Assume: Io sin(  )  nIs , tan   
Io cos(  )

nIs
Io cos  cos   Io sin  sin 

nIs
I cos   Iw sin 
 ...... Radians
nIs
I cos   Iw sin  180
  ……degrees
nIs 
Phase angle between Ip &Is  (180  )
Potential Transformer
 The figure shown below shows the schematic arrangement of a Potential Transformer.
This type of construction is called as Core Type Transformer.
 The two windings of Transformer are wound on two legs of the core.
 The fluxes produced by Primary and Secondary windings are shown by dotted lines and as
can be seen flux produced by Secondary winding opposes the flux produced by Primary
winding.

Equivalent Circuit
This circuit is similar to Equivalent Circuit of Current Transformer and the terminologies used
are mentioned below,
N1
Turns ratio=n=
N2
Vp
Actual transformation ratio=R=
VS
N1
Nominal ratio=K=
N2
Xl
Rp  (n2R s  Rp )   tan1( )
Rl
Xp  (n2 XS  Xp )

Errors in Potential Transformer
Ratio Error
Actual Transformation Ratio is given by,
Is
(R p cos   Xp sin  )  Iwrp  I X p
R n n
Vs
So, ratio error is
K R
Ratio error=    100
R
Phase angle error

The phase angle between primary and secondary voltages should ideally be 1800 but due to
series impedance of Transformer, it is less than 1800 resulting in Phase Angle Error.
Is / n(Xp cos   R p sin  )  Iw Xp  IR p


nVs
Phase angle difference between Vs and Vp  (180  )
Methods of Reducing Error
Reducing the reactance

Both Ratio Error and Phase angle error in Current Transformer occur due to No-Load
component of current. Hence, to minimize these errors we need to minimize the No-Load
Current. If we reduce reluctance of core by using high permeability materials like Si steel, NI-
Fe alloy, then for same flux magnetizing current is reduced and hence no load current also
decreases.
Using strip wound core
By using strip wound core or toroidal core the numbers of core joints are reduced so that
reluctance is minimized which causes Io to reduce and hence Ratio Error and Phase angle
error are minimized.

Reducing air leakage flux
By reducing distance between primary and secondary turns, the air leakage flux is minimized
and hence total flux is reduced which causes reduction in Magnetizing Current so that Io is
minimized.
Reducing the Primary turns in Current Transformer
For reducing the Ratio and Phase Angle Error, Primary Current has to be increased.
Io cos(  )
Phase Angle Error,  
Ip
So, as Primary Current increases Phase Angle Error decreases.
Io sin(  ) I sin(   )
R n n o
Is nIP
Io sin(  )
R n 
nIP
As, Primary Current increases the difference between Actual ratio and Nominal Ratio
decreases so that Ratio Error decreases.
To increase Primary Current we decrease primary Number of Turns and hence we use N1  1
i.e. bar primary.
Turns Compensation
It is used to compensate ratio error only. If the number of turns on the secondary are
reduced for reducing the value then Actual Ratio is reduced so that it becomes closer to the
Nominal Ratio.
Wilson Compensation Method

It is used for reducing phase angle error in case of CT and PT by providing extra secondary
auxiliary turns in the secondary winding which will produce additional phase angle which
compensates phase angle errors.

Solved Examples
Problem: A 500 A/5 A, 50 Hz current transformer has a bar primary. The secondary burden is
a pure resistance of 1  and it draws a current of 5A. If the magnetic core requires 250 AT for
magnetization, the percentage ratio error is?
Pr imary Current 500

Solution: Nominal Ratio=   100
Secondary Current 5
Primary Turns = 1
Magnetizing Current = 250 A
Primary Current = 5002  2502  559.016 A
Pr imary Current 559.016

Actual Ratio =   111.8
Secondary Current 5
Nominal Ratio  Actual Ratio 100  111.8

Percentage Error = x100%  x100%  10.5%
Actual Ratio 111.8
Problem: A 200 / 1 Current transformer (CT) is wound with 200 turns on the secondary on a
toroidal core. When it carries a current of 160 A on the primary, the ratio and phase errors of
the CT are found to be  50% and 30 minutes respectively. If the number of secondary turns
is reduced by 1 the new ratio error (%) and phase error (min) will be respectively.
I 0 cos (  )
Solution: R = n +
IS
Where, R = Transformation ratio and n = Turns ratio
I cos (  )
R = 200 + 0 [assume  = 0 ]
IS
nominal ratio  transformation ratio
 % ratio error =  100
Transformation ratio
Kn  R
 0.5 =  100
R
 0.5 R = 100 Kn  100 R [ Kn = 200]
I0 cos (  )
R = 201= 200 + 1=200 +
IS
I0 cos (  )
 =1
IS

If secondary turns are reduced by 1

N =199
R = 199 + 1 = 200
nominal ratio  transformation ratio 200  200

Ratio Error =  100 =  100  0%
Transformation ratio 200
When Secondary Turns are reduced it does not affect much the Phase Angle Error
So, Phase Angle Error = 30 min

Q Meters Theory

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Measurement (Miscellaneous)

Upon completion of this chapter you will be able to:

 Measure Voltages using Potentiometer.

A Potentiometer is a device which is designed to measure unknown voltages by comparing it

Potentiometer is based on the principle of Voltage division which is illustrated below by an

© Kreatryx. All Rights Reserved. 1 www.kreatryx.com

Under balance condition, no current flows through

By Potential Divider Rule,

Hence, in a Potentiometer Vx  lx where lx is balancing length.

The figure shown below shows the practical

© Kreatryx. All Rights Reserved. 2 www.kreatryx.com

When switch is connected at A and we have balancing condition then Ig  0 ,

Assume balancing length is given by l1

Measurement of Low Resistance

© Kreatryx. All Rights Reserved. 3 www.kreatryx.com

When switch is connected at AB,

The balancing lengths corresponding to VR and VS are lR and lS respectively

Solution: The balancing length corresponding to R is 125cm and balancing length

© Kreatryx. All Rights Reserved. 4 www.kreatryx.com

Problem: A d.c. potentiometer is designed to measure up to about 2 v with a slide wire of

Q – Meter/ Voltage Magnifier

© Kreatryx. All Rights Reserved. 5 www.kreatryx.com

Effect of Shunt Resistance on measurement

Measurement of Unknown capacitance

The test capacitance is connected across T3 and T4 . The capacitance C is changed up to C1 to

© Kreatryx. All Rights Reserved. 6 www.kreatryx.com

The resonance frequency is given by,

The resonance frequency is then given by,

Measurement of distributed or self-capacitance of coil

At Low or Medium frequencies,

Cd = self or distributed capacitance

Test coil is connected between T1 and T2 and capacitance is changed up to C1 to get

© Kreatryx. All Rights Reserved. 7 www.kreatryx.com

Resonance Frequency is given by,

Now, capacitance C is changed to C  C2

The resonance frequency under this condition is given by,

Substituting the value of f1 we get,

Solution: Here C1  300pF and C2  200pF

 The extension of Instrument range is a very important problem when it comes to

© Kreatryx. All Rights Reserved. 8 www.kreatryx.com

Advantages of Instrument Transformers

1. Measures high currents and high voltages.

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Equivalent circuit of Current Transformer

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For Purely Resistive burden, δ=0

Errors in Current Transformer

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Phase angle error

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Errors in Potential Transformer

Phase angle error

Is / n(Xp cos   R p sin  )  Iw Xp  IR p

Methods of Reducing Error

Reducing the reactance

Using strip wound core

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Reducing air leakage flux

Reducing the Primary turns in Current Transformer

Wilson Compensation Method

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Pr imary Current 500

Primary Current = 5002  2502  559.016 A