Lab Report 01

LAB 1- INTRODUCTION TO BASIC ELECTRICAL MEASURING INSTRUMENTS

Objectives
 Identify types of basic electrical measuring instruments
 Recognize the importance of testing and measurements in electrical circuits
 Realize analog and digital measuring instruments
 Demonstrate the operation of multimeter
 Understand the operation of each basic electrical measuring instrument

Materials required
1. DC power supply
2. A load resistor (1-10kΩ)
3. Separate analog and digital ammeter, voltmeter, ohmmeter
4. Analog and digital multimeters
5. Connecting wires
Theory
Testing and measurements are important in designing, evaluating, maintaining and servicing
electrical circuits and equipment. In order to detect electrical quantities such as current,
voltage, resistance or power. It is necessary to transform an electrical quantity or condition in
to a visible indication. This is done with the aid of measuring instruments that indicate the
magnitude of quantities either by the position of a pointer moving over a graduate scale
(called an analog instrument) or in form of a decimal number (called a digital instrument).
Digital meters are more popular than analog types because they are easier to use.
Electrical quantities such as current, voltage, resistance or power are measured in practice
using instruments called ammeters, voltmeters ohmmeters and wattmeter's respectively.
 An Ammeter
An ammeter is a measuring instrument used to measure the current in a circuit. Electric
currents are measured in Amperes (A), hence the name. The ammeter is usually connected in
series with the circuit in which the current is to be measured. An ammeter usually has low
resistance so that it does not cause a significant voltage drop in the circuit being measured.
Instruments used to measure smaller currents, in the milliampere or microampere range, are
designated as milliammeters or microammeters. It is generally represented by letter 'A' in a
circuit.
Ammeters must be connected in series with the circuit to be measured. For relatively small
currents (up to a few amperes), an ammeter may pass the whole of the circuit current. For
larger direct currents, a shunt resistor carries most of the circuit current and a small,
accurately-known fraction of the current passes through the meter movement.

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 A Voltmeter
A voltmeter is an instrument used for measuring electric potential difference between two
points in an electric circuit. It is connected in parallel. It usually has a high resistance so that
it takes negligible current from the circuit.
Voltmeters can be used to measure the voltage drop across a single component or supply, or
they can be used to measure the sum of voltage drops across two or more points or
components within a circuit.

 An Ohmmeter
An ohmmeter can be defined as, it is one kind of electronic device mainly used for
calculating electrical resistance of a circuit, and the unit of resistance is ohm. Electrical
resistance is a calculation of how much an object resists allowing the flow of current through
it. There are different types of meters available with different sensitivity levels such as micro,
mega and milli-ohmmeters. this ohmmeter is used in bonding contact applications. The uses
of the ohmmeter include the following.

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 This meter can be used to ensure the continuity of the circuit which means if the
sufficient flow of current or huge flow of current through the circuit then the circuit
will be detached.
 These are broadly used in electronic labs in engineering to test the electronic
components.
 These are used for small ICs for debugging such as PCBs & other stuff which
requires to be executed in sensitive devices.
Thus, this is all about an overview of an ohmmeter, with applications. This meter is used to
measure the resistance as well as the connection of the components in an electrical circuit. It
measures the resistance in ohms.

 Multimeters
A multimeter or a multi-tester, also known as a volt/ohm meter or VOM, is an electronic
measuring instrument that combines several measurement functions in one unit. A typical
multimeter may include features such as the ability to measure voltage, current and
resistance. Multimeters may use analog or digital circuits—analog multimeters and digital
multimeters (often abbreviated DMM or DVOM.) Analog instruments are usually based on a
microammeter whose pointer moves over a scale calibration for all the different
measurements that can be made; digital instruments usually display digits, but may display a
bar of a length proportional to the quantity measured.
A multimeter can be a hand-held device useful for basic fault finding and field service work
or a bench instrument which can measure to a very high degree of accuracy. They can be
used to troubleshoot electrical problems in a wide array of industrial and household devices
such as electronic equipment, motor controls, domestic appliances, power supplies, and
wiring systems.
Contemporary multimeters can measure many quantities. The common ones are:
 Voltage, alternating and direct, in volts.
 Current, alternating and direct, in amperes.
The frequency range for which AC measurements are accurate must be specified.
 Resistance in ohms.

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 A wattmeter
The wattmeter is an instrument for measuring the electric active power (or the average of the
rate of flow of electrical energy) in watts of any given circuit.
The wattmeter is an electric instrument that is used to measure the electric power of various
electric circuits. It consists of the current coil and voltage coil. These instruments are widely
used for transmission and distribution of electric power and these are also used for protection
purposes.

Procedure
1. Ammeter demonstration
1.1. First, we take a digital multimeter.
1.2. Next, we choose the function and range selector to rotary switch.
1.3. We set the multimeter as Ammeter instrument.
1.4. We adjust our ammeter as a DC measuring instrument.
1.5. Then, we connected the circuit in series.
1.6. Finally, we connect the DC ammeter in the given circuit to measure the current through
a circuit.

2. Voltmeter demonstration
2.1. first, we take a digital multimeter.
2.2. Next, we choose the function and range selector to rotary switch.

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2.3. We set the multimeter as a voltmeter instrument.

3. Ohmmeter demonstration
3.1. First, we take a digital multimeter.
3.2. Next, we choose the function and range selector to rotary switch.
3.3. Then, we set the multimeter as ohmmeter instrument.
3.4. Finally, we connect the ohmmeter in the given circuit to measure the current through a
circuit.
Result and Discussion
For Measuring Current
It must be connected in series with the ammeter. Ammeter is represent how much current
through the resistor. It is significant to avoid current shock.
For Measuring Voltmeter
It must be connected in parallel in series circuit. Voltmeter represent voltage that across the
resistor. It is used to calculate voltage drop each of resistor and then continue to calculate
total resistor. and also voltage will be increase as a current through the resistor is increase.
Conclusion
In the practice we identify types of basic electrical measuring instruments and also how we
can operate different types of instruments. We understand the operation of the multimeter to
measure resistance, voltage and current in our circuit.

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