Instrumentation Electronics

Lecture 6
 Outlines
Small review
Still about bridge circuits
 Thevenin equivalent
R1 R2
ETH
E
R1 R3 R2 R4 R

R1R3 R2 ( R4 R)
RTH
R1 R3 R2 R4 R

ETH
Ig
R R
TH g
 Case 1: Equal resistances bridge
R1=R2=R3=R4=R
Rth ..? Eth ?
Then the deflection of the galvanometer is
given by R
Si E
d Si I g 4R
R Rg
Bridge sensitivity d Si E Sv E
Sb
R R Rg 4
4R
 Case2: Unequal resistance bridge
Find E_th in the sense of p RR
4

Here is the answer

R
E
ETH R4
R3 R2 R
1 1
R1 R4 R4

Define n=R2/R4=R1/R3, for p<<n we get

ETH pn

E (1 n) 2
 finally
The deflection of the galvanometer
Si Epn
d Si I g
( RTH Rg )(1 n) 2

What you can conclude?

How about the bridge sensitivity?
d Si En S v En
Sb
R ( RTH Rg )(1 n) 2
(1 n) 2
4R
 Limitations of WB
Resistance below 1 Ohm is difficult to
measure because of bad contact
Thermoelectric effect due to contact with
different kind of metal
Measurement above 1 mega Ohm is also
difficult. Why?
 Remote connected WB
How about if our sensor located far away?
Conventional
2-wire connection
4-wire connection
 Kelvin bridge
Look at the board!
Kelvin bridge is used to measure very small
resistance
 AC Bridges
To measure: impedance, inductance,
capacitance, dissipation factor
Can also be used for phase sifting, as a
feedback path for oscillator and amplifier,
filtering out some undesirable frequencies
Look at the board, the balanced equation is
now replaced by 2 equations!
 AC bridges (contd)
Example: and AC bridge is driven by 500 Hz
sinusoidal source. Is the bridge balanced at
Z1=4+4j, Z2=1+j, Z3=4, Z4=1
Z1=4+4j, Z2=1-j, Z3=4, Z4=1
(Quiz) A bridge is driven by 2 kHz sinusoidal
source. If Z1=10 kOhm, Z2=50kOhm, Z3 is
series combination of R=100kOhm and C=100
uF, if Z4 is combination of series R and L or C,
find their value!
 Maxwell Bridge
Look at the board
For balanced bridge, Z1Z4=Z2Z3
Quality factor is the purity of an inductor
defined as Q=Xs/Rs=\omega R1 C1
Example: Find the series inductance,
resistance and Q using Maxwell bridge.
Z1=470Ohm || 0.22 uF, Z2=Z3=1 kOhm,
f=2kHz
 Hays Bridge
Similar with Maxwell bridge but for high value
of Q
 A quiz
In a Maxwell bridge Z=R=200 Ohm||C=5 uF,
Z2=0.5 kOhm, Z3=0.4 kOhm, Z4= series of R=1
kOhm, L=1 H. f=1000 Hz. Is the bridge
balanced?