PH 2223: Construction of a Voltmeter and an Ammeter from a Galvanometer

Construction of a Voltmeter and an Ammeter from a

Galvanometer

Objective

Materials
1. 1-meter stick 6. Fisher 1V/30V power supply (set to
2. Ammeter shunt wire 30V)
3. Banana-to-banana wires 7. Fluke digital multimeter
4. Banana-to-spade wires 8. Galvanometer
5. Decade resistor box (x2) 9. Needle-nose pliers

Introduction
Most analog (not digital) electric meters make use of a galvanometer. A galvanometer is a
device constructed such that deflection of a needle is proportional to current through a coil
around the base of the needle. The resistance of a galvanometer is usually several ohms.
Typically, a current of a fraction of one milliamp will cause full-scale deflection. The various
electric meters use resistors in series or in parallel with the galvanometer. In order to choose
a resistor for a specific purpose you need to know the resistance of the galvanometer and the
current for full-scale deflection.

Caution: Before you use the decade box in the circuit, turn all the knobs
on the decade box to their highest-value position. Always start decreasing the
resistance from the highest-value knob, then next highest, and so on ...

Procedure

Finding the Resistance of the Galvanometer

The circuit of Figure 1 may be used for determining the characteristics of the galvanometer.
R1 is a decade resistance box with a maximum resistance of, say, 10,000 ohms (Ω). With R2
disconnected from the circuit, starting from very large R1 , decrease the value of R1 until the

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Mississippi State University Department of Physics and Astronomy

galvanometer reads full-scale; note the value of R1 . Insert R2 , another decade box, into the
circuit as shown, and vary its value until the galvanometer reads one-half of the full-scale
deflection. Now consider these facts: (a) as stated above, the deflection of the galvanometer
needle is proportional to the current through the galvanometer, and (b) the needle is now
deflected by half as much as it was without R2 . We can conclude that now half as much
current is passing through the galvanomter. Therefore, the “other half” of the current must
be passing through R2 . This means that the current passing through the galvanometer must
be equal to the current passing through R2 . What does this mean about the resistance of
the galvanometer, RGM , compared to the resistance of R2 ?

Figure 1

Now back to the circuit without R2 present. Because the galvanometer is fully deflected,
Ohm’s law permits you to compute the current for full-scale deflection. Read the potential
difference from the voltmeter. The resistance is the sum of R1 and RGM . Call the current
associated with this full-scale deflection Id , and note that
V
Id =
R1 + RGM

Voltmeter

Calculation of series resistance, RS

A voltmeter consists of a resistor in series with the galvanometer. You will construct a
voltmeter to read, say, 5 V full-scale. The problem is to compute the value of RS needed
with the particular galvanometer being used. You know the current for full-scale deflection
of the galvanometer is Id . Now we want the potential difference between points a and b
equal to 5 V (see Figure 2). Ohm’s law permits the computation of the total resistance
between points a and b. From this it is easy to get RS . From Ohm’s law, V = IRtotal , where
Rtotal = RS + RGM . And because RS and RGM are in series, IS = Id . Find RS .

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 PH 2223: Construction of a Voltmeter and an Ammeter from a Galvanometer

Construction

Set up the circuit as shown in Figure 2. You can change the deflection by using the volt-
age knob on the power source. Measure the potential difference for full deflection of the
galvanometer. What value do you get? Is it what you expected? Measure the potential
difference for one-half of full deflection of the galvanometer. What value do you get? Is it
what you expected?

Figure 2

Ammeter
You will NOT use the decade boxes for the Ammeter portion of this lab. Please
disconnect all wires from them, and place them on the corner of your desk.

Calculation of parallel resistance RP

We can make an ammeter using a resistor in parallel with a galvanometer as shown in Figure
3. You will construct an ammeter to read, say, 5 amps full-scale; so it is necessary to compute
the value of RP needed for this particular calibration. Because RGM and RP are in parallel,
their potentials must be equal. The potential Vd for full-scale deflection can be computed
from Ohm’s law (RGM and Id are known). Since the desired current through RP can quickly
be determined (5 amps minus Id ), the value of RP can now be computed from Ohm’s law.
Find RP .

Figure 3

What value of RP do you get? This value of RP is so small that a decade box is NOT
suitable. Instead you will be using wire. The wire you will be using has an empirically
determined resistivity of approximately 1.74 × 10−6 Ω · cm.

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Mississippi State University Department of Physics and Astronomy

Calculate the required length of wire by using the relation

ρ·L
RP =
A
where

RP is the resistance you have calculated

ρ is the resistivity of the material
L is the required length of wire
A is the cross-sectional area of the wire (see Table 1).

B & S Gauge Cross-sectional Area, A (cm2 )

18 0.0081713
20 0.0051912
22 0.0032472
24 0.0020508
26 0.0012819
28 0.0008042

Table 1

Construction

Now set up the circuit as shown in Figure 3. What is the reading of the current from the
power supply for full deflection of the galvanometer? What was your expectation? What is
the reading of the current from the power supply for one half of full-scale deflection? What
was your expectation?
Hypothetically, if you want your ammeter to read 2.5 A at full deflection, what should be
the value of RP ? Check your constructed ammeter against the ammeter in the power supply.
Both should read the same value.

4 Last Modified: February 24, 2015