Physics Project

Name :-Prakhar Sharma

Roll No :- 3

Class :-12TH-B

Topic :-Moving Coil Galvanometer

Moving Coil Galvanometer-Physics Project Page1

 Certificate:-
This is to certify that Prakhar Sharma, a student of
Class 12th Sec-B
Has successfully completed the project on the above
mentioned topic under the guidance of Mr. Naresh
Nanda Sir (Subject teacher) during the year 2023-2024
in partial fulfillment of Physics Practical Examination
conducted by CBSE New Delhi.

Signature of the Examiner Signature of subject teacher

Moving Coil Galvanometer-Physics Project Page2

 Acknowledgement:-
The success and final outcome of this project required a lot of
guidance and assistance from many people .I am extremely
privileged to thank Mr. Naresh Nanda (Subject Teacher) for
providing me an opportunity to do the project work and
givingme all support and guidance which made me complete
the project appropriately. He was always supportive and
inspirational for completing this project. I am also extremely
thankful to all my friends for providing me all the necessary
support and guidance.

Prakhar Sharma
Class12th- B

Moving Coil Galvanometer-Physics Project Page3

Objective: To study the basics chematic
structure of a moving coil galvanometer and
the basic process underlying the conversion
of a moving coil galvanometer into an
ammeter and a voltmeter.

References:-
 NCERT Class12Physics Textbook
 http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/hframe.html
 http://www.brainkart.com/article/Moving-coil-galvanometer

Moving Coil Galvanometer-Physics Project Page4

 Contents:-
 Basics about magnetic effects of current and magnetism
 Torqueona current carrying coil placed in a magnetic field
 Brief introduction into the different types of Galvanometers along
with brief description.
 General structure of a moving coil galvanometer
 Conversion of a Galvanometer into an Ammeter
 Conversion of a Galvanometer into a Voltmeter

Moving Coil Galvanometer-Physics Project Page5

 BasicsaboutMagneticEffectsofCurrent andMagnetism:-
Introduction:-

Electromagnetism: The branch of physics which deals with interaction of electric current
orfieldsandmagneticfields.

Magnetic field: A region of space near a magnet, electric current or moving charged particle
inwhichmagnetic effects are exerted on any other magnet, electric current, or moving
chargedparticle.Itisalso knownasmagneticfluxdensityormagneticinductionormagneticfield.

Unit:Weber/m2orTesla Dimensions:[MT-2A-1]

Oersted’sDiscovery:-

TherelationbetweenelectricityandmagnetismwasdiscoveredbyOer
stedin1820.Oerstedshowedthattheelectriccurrentthrough the
conducting wire deflects the magnetic needle heldnear the wire.
On increasing the current in conductor or bringingthe needle
closer to the conductor, the deflection of
magneticneedleincreases.

Oersted discovered a magnetic field around a conductor

carryingcurrent.

A The magnet
magnetic at (markedB,
field rest produces a magnetic field around it while
indicatedbyfieldlines)aroundwire
anelectricchargeatrestproducesanelectricfieldaroundit.
carryinganelectriccurrent(markedI).
Acurrentcarryingconductorhasamagneticfieldandnotanelectric field
around it. On the other hand, a charge moving with uniform velocity has anelectricas wellas
amagneticfieldaroundit.

Moving Coil Galvanometer-Physics Project Page6

 Biot-Savart’sLaw:-

With the help of experimental results, Biot and Savart arrived at a mathematical expression
that gives the magnetic field at some point in terms of the current that produces the field.

Magnetic Field Lines: In order to visualize a magnetic field graphically, Michael Faraday
introduced the concept of field lines. Field lines of magnetic field are imaginary lines
which represents direction of magnetic field continuously.
o Magnetic field lines emanate from or entering the surface of a magnetic material
at any angle.
o Magnetic field lines exist in side every magnetized material.
o Magnetic field lines can be mapped by using iron dust or using compass needle.
o They are closed curves.
o Tangent drawn on any point on field lines represents direction of the field at that
point.
o Field lines never intersect each other.

Quick Fact: Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) machines generate a field 60,000 times as intense as the earth’s to vib

Moving Coil Galvanometer-Physics Project Page7

 Magnetic Force:-

The implications of this expression include:

1. The force is perpendicular to both the velocity v of the charge q and the magnetic field B.

2. The magnitude of the force is F = qvBsinθ where θ is the angle <180 degrees between the
velocity and the magnetic field. This implies that the magnetic force on a stationary charge or
a charge moving parallel or anti parallel to the magnetic field is zero.

3. The direction of the force is given by the left hand rule. The force relationship above is in
the form of a vector product.
Whencurrentflowsthroughaconductingwire,andanexternal
magneticfieldisappliedacrossthatflow,theconducting wire
experiences a force perpendicular both to that field and to
the direction of the current flow (i.e they are mutually
perpendicular) .

 The Thumb represents the direction of Motion

resulting from the force on the conductor
 The First finger represents the direction of the
magnetic Field
 The Second finger represents the direction of
the Current.
Fleming’sLeftHandRuletofindthedirectionofforce(movement)ona
moving charged particle (or current carrying conductor) placed
inMagneticField.
This diagram illustrates how to find out
the direction of force on a charged
particle moving in a region of magnetic
field. This method is based on the
vector product of two vectors where
the resultant vector is perpendicular to
the plane containing both vectors.

Moving Coil Galvanometer-Physics Project Page8

 LorentzForce:-

When a charge is moving in a region, where both electric field and magnetic
field having magnitudes E and B respectively exist, then electric and magnetic
forces are acting on it. The resultant of these forces is called electro magnetic
force or Lorentz force on charge.

MagneticMoment:-

Magnetic moment of a bar magnet is defined as a vector quantity having magnitude equal to
the product of pole strength (m) with effective length (l) and directed along the axis of the
magnet from South to North pole.

𝑀̅→=𝑚̅̅→.𝑙

Magnetic Moment of a current carrying coil (loop): A current carrying coil behaves like a
magnetic dipole. The face of coil in which current appears to flow anti-clock wise acts as North
Pole while face of coil in which current appears to flow clock-wise acts as South Pole.

Moving Coil Galvanometer-Physics Project Page9

A loop of geometrical area ‘A’ , carries a current ‘I’ , then magnetic moment of coil M=IA

A coil of ‘N ’turns , geometrical area ‘A’ , carries a current ‘I’ , then magnetic moment M=NIA

Torqueona Current carrying coil placed in Magnetic Field:-

Moving Coil Galvanometer-Physics Project Page10

TYPESOFGALVANOMETERS:-
o Tangent Galvanometer:-It works by using a compass needle to compare the magnetic field
generated by a unknown current to the magnetic field of the Earth. It was used earlier. It was first
given by Claude Pouillett. It contains an insulated copper wire coil on a non-magnetic circular
frame.
o Astatic Galvanometer:-It does not use the Earth’s magnetic field for measuring the current. It
was developed by Leopoldo Nobili. It contains two magnetized needles that run parallel to each
other, suspended by a silk thread, with their magnetic poles reversed. The lower needle
getsdeflectedbythepassingcurrent’smagneticfield.Thesecondneedlecancelsoutthedipolemovement
of the first one to cancel out the effects of Earth’s magnetic field.
o Mirror Galvanometer:-It is used to achieve higher sensitivity for detecting extremely small
currents. It contains horizontal magnets which are suspended from a fine fiber inside of the
vertical coil , with an attached mirror to its magnets. A beam of light reflects from the mirror acts
as along mass-less pointer by falling on a graduated scale across the room.
o Ballistic Galvanometer:-It is sensitive in mature and used to measure the quantity of charge that
is discharged through it. The moving part of the galvanometer has a large moment of inertia ,
giving it along oscillation period. It may be of the moving coil type or of the moving magnet type.

Moving Coil Galvanometer-Physics Project Page11

 Moving Coil Galvanometer:-

1. Introduction:-

A galvanometer is an electromechanical instrument for detecting and indicating electric

current. A galvanometer works as an actuator , by producing a rotary deflection (of a
"pointer") , in response to electric current flowing through a coil in a constant magnetic field.
Galvanometers developed from the observation that the needle of a magnetic compass is
deflected near a wire that has electric current flowing through it, first described by Hans
Oersted in 1820. They were the first instruments used to detect and measure small amounts
of electric currents. Sensitive galvanometer shave been essential for the development of
science and technology in many fields. Galvanometers also had wide spread use as the
visualising part in other kinds of analog meters, for example in light meters, VU meters, etc.,
where they were used to measure and display the output of other sensors.

2. Principle:-

When a current carrying coil is suspended in a uniform magnetic field it is acted upon by
atorque. Under the action of this torque, the coil rotates and the deflection in the coil in
amovingcoilgalvanometerisdirectlyproportionalto thecurrentflowingthroughthecoil.

3. Construction:-

It consists of a rectangular coil of thin insulated

copperwires having a large number of turns.
Thehorseshoemagnet has cylindrically concave pole-
pieces. Due tothis shape, the magnet produces radial
magnetic fieldso that when coil rotates in any position
its plane
isalwaysparalleltothedirectionofmagneticfield.When
current flows through the coil it gets deflected.A soft
iron cylinder is fixed inside the coil such that thecoil
can rotate freely between the poles and aroundthe
cylinder. Due to the high permittivity, the soft
ironcoreincreasesthestrengthoftheradialmagneticfield.
SchematicDiagramofaMovingCoilGalvanometer

Moving Coil Galvanometer-Physics Project Page12

 4. Working:-

When acurrentflowsthroughthecoil,atorqueactsonit.Thistorqueisgivenbytheequation
𝑟 = 𝑁𝑖𝐴𝐵where the symbols have their usual meaning. Since the field is radial by design,
wehave taken sin 𝜃 = 1 in the above expression for the torque.The magnetic torque 𝑟 =
𝑁𝑖𝐴𝐵tendstorotatethecoil.Aspring Spprovidesacountertorque 𝑟 =
𝐾𝜑thatbalancesthemagnetictorque 𝑟=𝑁𝑖𝐴𝐵;resultinginasteadyangular deflection𝜑.
In equilibrium,𝐾𝜑= 𝑁𝑖𝐴𝐵where 𝐾is the torsional constant of the spring; i.e. the
restoringtorqueperunittwist.Thedeflection 𝜑isindicatedonthescalebyapointerattachedtothe
𝑁𝐴𝐵
spring.Wehave𝜑=( )𝑖.
𝐾

Thequantitygivenin bracketsisaconstantforthegalvanometer.Hence,GalvanometerConstantG
can beexpressedas:-

𝑁𝐴𝐵
𝐺= 𝐾
∴𝜑=𝐺𝑖

∴𝑖𝖺𝜑

So, the current through the coil varies linearly with the deflection and so, the current
flowingthroughthe coil can beknownbymeasuringthe deflection.

The galvanometer can be used as a detector to check if a current is flowing in the circuit
(thisconfigurationisused intheWheatstone’sbridge
arrangement).Inthisusagetheneutralposition of the pointer (when no current is flowing
through the galvanometer) is in the middleof the scale and not at the left end. Depending on
the direction of the current, the pointerdeflectionis eitherto therightorthe left.

Quick Fact: Greek scientist, Archimedes was the first person to have made use of magnets. Thestory goes that he enabled enemy

Moving Coil Galvanometer-Physics Project Page13

 5. CurrentSensitivityofGalvanometer:-

The current sensitivity of a galvanometer is defined as the deflection produced when

unitcurrent passes through the galvanometer. A galvanometer is said to be sensitive if it
produceslargedeflectionfor asmallcurrent.
𝜑(
∴𝐶𝑢𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑆𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑖) =𝑁𝐵𝐴
𝐾

 FactorsincreasingCurrentSensitivity:-
1. Increasing the magnetic field B by using strong permanent horse shoe
shapedmagnet.
2. Increasing the number of turns N. But number of turns of the coil cannot
beincreasedbeyondacertainlimit.Thisisbecausetheresistanceofthegalvanometer
will increase subsequently and hence the galvanometer becomeslesssensitivity.
3. Increasing the area of the coil A. But it will make the galvanometer bulky
andultimatelyless sensitive.
4. Decreasingthevalueofrestoring forceconstantkby using aflatstripofphosphor
– bronze instead of circular wire of phosphor – bronze. Quartz fibers can also
beused for suspension of the coil because they have large tensile strength and
verylow valueof K.

5. VoltageSensitivityofGalvanometer:-

Thevoltagesensitivityofagalvanometerisdefinedasthedeflectionperunitvoltage.

∴𝑉𝑜𝑙𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒𝑆𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑦(𝜑)=(𝜑)=𝑁𝐵𝐴
whereG=GalvanometerResistance
𝑉 𝐼𝐺 𝐾𝐺

 Aninterestingpointtonoteisthat,increasingthecurrentsensitivitydoesnotnecessarily,
increase the voltage sensitivity. When the number of turns (n) is doubled,current
sensitivity is also doubled (equation 1). But increasing the number of
turnscorrespondinglyincreasestheresistance(G).Hencevoltagesensitivityremainsunch
anged.

Moving Coil Galvanometer-Physics Project Page14

 FactorsincreasingVoltageSensitivity:-
 Increasingnumberofturnsofthecoil(N)
 Increasingmagneticfieldintensity(B)
 Increasingareaofthecoil(A)
 Decreasingrestoringtorqueperunit twistof thesuspension(k)
 Decreasingresistance(G)

AdvantagesofaMovingCoilGalvanometer:-

 ThesensitivityofthegalvanometercanbeincreasedbyincreasingN,BandAwhiledecreasi
ngthevalueof k.
 Theinstrumenthas alinear scale.
 SincetheinstrumentuseshighvalueofB,thedeflectionisundisturbedbytheearth’smagne
ticfield.
 Asthecoiliswoundonanonmagneticmetallicframe,dampingisproducedbyeddycurrents
.Asaresultthecoilquicklyassumesthefinalposition.

Moving Coil Galvanometer-Physics Project Page15

 ConversionofaGalvanometertoan
AmmeterandaVoltmeter:-

ConversionofaGalvanometerintoanAmmeter:-

The galvanometer cannot as such be used as an ammeter to measure the value of the
currentin a given circuit. This is for two reasons: (i) Galvanometer is a very sensitive device, it
gives afull-scaledeflectionforacurrentoftheorderofµA.
(ii)Formeasuringcurrents,thegalvanometerhastobeconnectedinseries,andasithasalargeresistan
ce,thiswillchangethe value of the current in the circuit. To overcome these difficulties, one
attaches a smallresistance S, called shunt resistance, in parallel with the galvanometer coil; so
that most of thecurrentpassesthroughtheshunt.

The value of shunt resistance depends on the fraction

ofthetotalcurrentrequiredtobepassedthroughthegalvano
meter. Let Ig be the maximum current that can bepassed
through the galvanometer. The current I g will
givefullscaledeflectioninthegalvanometer.

GalvanometerResistance=GS
huntResistance=S
Currentinthecircuit=I

∴𝐶𝑢𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑠ℎ𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒𝐼𝑠=𝐼−𝐼𝑔

Sincethegalvanometerand theshuntresistanceareconnectedin
parallel,thepotentialdifferenceacrossbothof themis same.

∴𝐼𝑔.𝐺=(𝐼−𝐼𝑔).𝑆
𝐼
𝑔
∴𝑆=𝐺.
(𝐼−𝐼𝑔)

TheshuntresistanceisverysmallbecauseIgisonlyafractionofI.

Moving Coil Galvanometer-Physics Project Page16

 Theeffectiveresistanceof theammeterRais(G inparallelwithS):-

𝑅𝑎
𝐺.𝑆
= 𝐺+𝑆

Ra is very low and this explains why an ammeter should be connected in series.
Whenconnectedinseries,theammeterdoesnotappreciablychangetheresistanceandcurren
tinthecircuit.Hencean idealammeteris onewhichhaszeroresistance.

ConversionofaGalvanometerintoaVoltmeter:-

Voltmeter is an instrument used to measure potential difference between the two ends of
acurrent carrying conductor. A galvanometer can be converted into a voltmeter by connecting
ahighresistanceinseries withit. Thescaleis calibratedinvolt.

The value of the resistance connected in series decides

therangeof thevoltmeter.

GalvanometerResistance=G

Thecurrentrequiredto produce full scaledeflection

inthegalvanometer=Ig

Range of Voltmeter =

VResistanceto be connectedinseries =R

SinceRisconnectedinserieswiththegalvanometer,thecurrentthroughthegalvanometer,

∴𝐼𝑔
𝑉
= 𝑅+𝐺
𝑉
∴𝑅= −𝐺
𝐼𝑔

Fromtheequationtheresistancetobeconnectedinserieswiththegalvanometeriscalculated.Theeff
ectiveresistanceof thevoltmeteris:-

∴𝑅𝑣=𝑅+ 𝐺

Moving Coil Galvanometer-Physics Project Page17

Rv is very large, and hence a voltmeter is connected in parallel in a circuit as it draws the
leastcurrent from the circuit. In other words, the resistance of the voltmeter should be very
largecompared to the resistance across which the voltmeter is connected to measure the
potentialdifference. Otherwise, the voltmeter will draw a large current from the circuit and
hence thecurrent through theremaining part of the circuitdecreases. In such acase
thepotentialdifference measured by the voltmeter is very much less than the actual potential
difference.The erroriseliminated only when the voltmeter hasa highresistance.An ideal
voltmeter isonewhichhas infiniteresistance.

Moving Coil Galvanometer-Physics Project Page18