Chapter 4 DC Ammeter

 Galvanometer
– is a PMMC instrument designed to
be sensitive to extremely low current
levels.
– The simplest galvanometer is a very
sensitive instrument with the type of
center-zero scale.
– The torque equation for a
galvanometer is exactly as discussed
in the previous section.
– The most sensitive moving-coil
galvanometer use taut-band
suspension, and the controlling
torque is generated by the twist in
the suspension ribbon.
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– With the moving-coil weight
reduced to the lowest possible
minimum for greatest sensitivity, the
weight of t he pointer can create a
problem. The solution is by
mounting a small mirror on the
moving coil instead of a pointer.
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– The mirror reflects a beam of light
on to a scale. This makes light-
beam galvanometers sensitive to
much lower current levels than
pointer instruments
– Current sensitivity galvanometer
– Voltage sensitivity galvanometer
– Galvanometers are often employed
to detect zero current or voltage in a
circuit rather than to measure the
actual level of current or voltage.

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 DC Ammeter
– is always connected in series
– low internal resistance
– maximum pointer deflection is
produced by a very small current
– For a large currents, the instrument
must be modified by connecting a
very low shunt resister
– Extension of Ranges of Ammeter
• Single Shunt Type of Ammeter

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 Vsh  Vm
I sh Rsh  I m Rm
I m Rm
Rsh 
I sh
I sh  I  I m
I m Rm
 Rsh 
I  Im

Example 4.1: An ammeter as shown in Figure 3-9

has a PMMC instrument with a coil resistance
of Rm = 99 and FSD current of 0.1 mA.
Shunt resistance Rs = 1. Determine the total
current passing through the ammeter at (a)
FSD, (b) 0.5 FSD, and 0.25 FSD

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Solution
(a) At FSD
meter voltage Vm  I m R m
 0.1 mA 99 Ω
and I s R s  Vm
Vm 9.9 mV
Is    9.9 mA
Rs 1Ω
total current I  I s  I m  9.9 mA  0.1 mA
 10 mA
(b) At 0.5 FSD
I m  0.5  0.1 mA  0.05 mA
Vm  I m R m  0.05 mA 99 Ω  4.95 mV
Vm 4.95 mV
Is    4.95 mA
Rs 1Ω
total current I  I s  I m  4.95 mA  0.5 mA
 5 mA

(b) At 0.25 FSD

I m  0.25  0.1 mA  0.025 mA
Vm  I m R m  0.025 mA 99 Ω  2.475 mV
Vm 2.475 mV
Is    2.475 mA
Rs 1Ω
total current I  I s  I m  2.475 mA  0.025 mA 6
 2.5 mA
Example 4.2: A PMMC instrument has FSD of
100 A and a coil resistance of 1 k.
Calculate the required shunt resistance value
to convert the instrument into an ammeter
with (a) FSD = 100 mA and (b) FSD = 1 A.
Solution

(a) FSD = 100 mA

Vm  I m R m  100 μ A 1 kΩ  100 mV
I IsIm
I s  I  I m  100 mA 100 μ A  99.9 mA
Vm 100 mV
Rs    1.001 Ω
Is 99.9 mA

(b) FSD = 1 A
Vm  I m R m  100 mV
I s  I  I m  1 A 100 μ A  999.9 mA
Vm 100 mV
Rs    0.1001 Ω
Is 999.9 mA

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• Swamping Resistance
– The moving coil in a PMMC
instrument is wound with thin copper
wire, and its resistance can change
significantly when its temperature
changes.
– The heating effect of the coil current
may be enough to produce a
resistance change, which will
introduce an error.
– To minimize the error, a swamping
resistance made of manganin or
constantan is connected in series with
the coil (manganin and constantan
have resistance temperature
coefficients very close to zero.

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 – The ammeter shunt must also be
made of manganin or constantan
to avoid shunt resistance
variations with temperature.
• Multirange Ammeters
– Make-before-break switch
• The instrument is not left
without a shunt in parallel with
it.
• During switching there are
actually two shunts in parallel
with the instrument.

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• Ayrton Shunt
– At B
• Total resistance R1+R2+R3
• Meter resistance Rm
– At C
• Total resistance R1+R2
• Meter resistance Rm+R3
– At D?

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Example 4.3: A PMMC instrument has a
three-resistor Ayrton shunt connected
across it to make an ammeter as shown
in Figure 3-13. The resistance values are
R1 = 0.05, R2 = 0.45 and R3 = 4.5.
The meter has Rm = 1k and FSD =
50A. Calculate the three ranges of the
ammeter.
Solution
Switch at contact B:
Vs  I m R m  50 μA  1 kΩ  50 mV
Vs 50 mV
Is    10 mA
R 1  R 2  R 3 0.05 Ω  0.45 Ω  4.5 Ω
I  I m  I s  50 μA  10 mA
 10.05 mA
Switch at contact C:
Vs  I m R m  R 3   50 μA 1 kΩ  4.5 Ω   50 mV
Vs 50 mV
Is    100 mA
R 1  R 2 0.05 Ω  0.45 Ω
I  I m  I s  50 μA  100 mA
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 100.05 mA
Switch at contact C:
Vs  I m Rm  R3  R2   50μ0 1kΩ  4.5Ω  0.45Ω   50mV
Vs 50mV
Is    1A
R1 0.05Ω
I  I m  I s  50μ0  1A
 1.00005A

• Internal Ammeter Resistance: Rin

Rm Rsh
Rin  Rm //R sh 
Rm  Rsh
Vm
Rin 
I range

• Ammeter Loading Effects

• Internal resistance of ideal ammeter
is zero Ohm, but in practice, the
internal resistance has some values
which affect the measurement results.
• This error can be reduced by using
higher range of measurement.
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 • To calculate the relationship between
the trued value and the measured
value
Rth

dc circuit with source

Iwom Vth Iwom
and resistors

Rth

dc circuit with source Iwm

A Iwm Vth A
and resistors

VTh
I wom 
RTh
VTh
I wm 
RTh  R in

I wm RTh Xt  Xm
Accuracy   % Error  1  % Acc   100%
I wom RTh  R in Xt
I wm I wom  I wm
% Acc   100%   100%
I wom I wom
RTh
  100%
RTh  R in 13
 Example 4.4 For a DC Circuit as shown in
Figure below, given R1=2k, R2=1k
with voltage of 2V. By measuring the
current flow through R3 with a dc
ammeter with internal resistance of Rin
= 100Ω, calculate percentage of
accuracy and percentage of error.
R1=2k R3=15
Solution
2V R2=2k A Rin

RTh  R1 //R 2   R 3  2 kΩ

 E   2V 
VTh    R 2     2 kΩ  1V
 R1  R 2   2 kΩ  2 kΩ 
VTh 1V
I wom    500 μA
RTh 2 kΩ
VTh 1V
I wm    476.19 μA
RTh  R in 2 kΩ  100 Ω

I wm
% Acc   100%
I wom
476.19 μA
  95.24%
500 μA
% Error  1  % Acc  1  95.24%  4.76% 14
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