Practical Activity Electrical Meters

Practical Activity Electrical Meters
Covering 2.7 and 2.15

By Madhur Verma

Aim: How are voltmeters and ammeters placed in a circuit? How do they work? What does each
one measure?

Risk Assessment

Risk Rating Minimisation
Electrocution Medium Do not use leads which are not completely covered in the
insulating material. Do not touch the ends of the cables. Use a
transformer which uses a low voltage.
Burning from
the light globe
Low Do not touch the light globe straight after operating and ensure
that it is switched off when not in use.
Dropping the
Transformer
Low Ensure that the transformer is at the middle of the table, away
from the edges.
Dropping the
Light globe
Low Ensure that the light globe is at the middle of the table, away
from the edges, as dropping it and breaking glass could be
dangerous. If it is dropped, tell the teacher and warn other
students.

Procedure

Part 1

1. Set up the following circuit with appropriate equipment as shown below:

2. Connect the lead from the positive terminal of the transformer to the positive terminal in the
voltmeter.
3. Connect the lead from the negative terminal of the transformer to the negative terminal in
the voltmeter.
4. Ensure that the recorded numbers are the ones from the 0-20 range on the voltmeter.
5. Turn on the transformer.
6. Change the transformer setting from 2 to 4 to 6 and so on, and record the numbers on the
voltmeter for each setting.
Part 2

6. Set up the following circuit with appropriate equipment as shown below:
7. Connect the negative terminal of the transformer to the negative terminal of the ammeter.
8. Connect the positive terminal of the ammeter to one of the terminals of the light globe.
9. Connect the second terminal from the light globe to the positive terminal of the transformer.
10. Connect a lead from the positive terminal of the voltmeter to the terminal of the light globe,
which is connected to the terminal of the transformer.
11. Connect a lead from the negative terminal of the voltmeter to the terminal of the light globe,
which is connected to the terminal of the ammeter.
12. Turn on the transformer.
13. Change the transformer setting from 2 to 4 to 6 and so on, and record the numbers on the
ammeter for each setting.
14. Qualitatively record the brightness of the light globe.

Table of Results

Transformer
setting
Part 1
Voltmeter
V

2 2.5
4 4.5
6 6
8 8
10 10
12 12
Part 2 Ammeter
mA
Light globe
observation
2 2 170 Very dim
4 3.5 220 Very low brightness
6 5.5 260 Low brightness
8 7.5 310 Fairly bright
10 9.5 360 Bright
12 11 400 Very bright
Analysis Questions

1. In which direction do:

a. The electrons move around the circuit

Electrons move from the negative side of the battery (or transformer in this case) to the positive
side. This is known as electron flow notation and depicts the direction that the electrons actually
move.

b. Conventional current flow

Conventional current moves from the positive
side to the negative, and is opposite to electron
flow. This is known as conventional flow notation
and is widely used because in society the word
positive indicates surplus and the word negative
indicates deficiency, therefore it makes sense for
current to flow from the positive (surplus) to the
negative (deficiency) rather than negative
(surplus) to positive (deficiency) which is the
actual flow of electrons.

2. Draw a graph of voltage vs current and comment on the shape of the line. What does the
shape represent?

The shape of this line is straight representing the constant relationship between the voltage and
current. This relationship corresponds with conventional physics as V/I = Resistance, a constant
value, which in this case is undetermined as the resistor was a light globe.

Calculate the gradient of your line.
1
Gradient = Rise/Run (averages > V/A)
= 6.5/0.043
= 151

3. How are the two meters placed in the circuit?

The Ammeter is placed in series with the light globe and the Voltmeter is placed in parallel with
the light globe. By placing the Ammeter in series, it allows it to measure the current around the
whole circuit as the electrons pass through it. The voltmeter needs to be placed in parallel with the
light globe as it measures the potential difference (voltage) across the component.

Extension - How do Voltmeters/Ammeters work?

When a conductor with current passing through is placed in a
magnetic field, the conductor feels a force, attempting to
push it out of the field. This is called magnetic deflection and
is primarily how analogue ammeters work. The DArsonval
galvonmeter consists of a small coil of wire in the field of a
permanent magnet. The coil is attached to a pointer, which
transverses a calibrated scale. When current flows through
the coild, a magnetic field is generated, acting against the
permanent magnet. This causes the coil to twist, pushing
against the string and moving the pointer. The hand points at
a scale indicating the current passing through it. The pole pieces are
designed to ensure that the angle of the pointer is proportionate to the
current. This meter however only responds to direct current.

A voltmeter works in much the same way however the galvanometer is
modified so that the current flowing through the coil is proportional to
the voltage indicated by the pointer. This is possible by inserting a
resistor in series with the instrument. When current flows through the
galvanometer, the pointer rotates and compresses a small spring. By
adding a series resistance, the angular rotation is made to be
proportional to the applied
voltage.

Moving iron ammeters consist
of a piece of iron which moves when acted upon by the
electromagnetic force of a fixed coil wire. The iron
component consists of a moving vane, connected to a
pointer and a fixed vane, surrounded by a coil. As current
flows through the coil, a magnetic field is induced, leading
to both vanes repelling each other and the moving vane
deflecting and moving the pointer.

Image references
1 - http://www.allaboutcircuits.com/vol_1/chpt_1/7.html
2 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galvanometer
3 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voltmeter#Analog_voltmeter
4 - http://www.physics.uq.edu.au/physics_museum/pictures/cat361a.jpg
2
2
3
4

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Covering 2.7 and 2.15

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