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. 4
5
– 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 V m I m R m
0.1 mA 99 Ω
and I s R s V m
V 9.9 mV
Is  m  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
V m I m R m 0.05 mA 99 Ω 4.95 mV
V 4.95 mV
Is  m  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
V m I m R m 0.025 mA 99 Ω 2.475 mV
V 2.475 mV
Is  m  2.475 mA
Rs 1Ω
total current I I s  I m 2.475 mA  0.025 mA 9
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

V m I m R m 100 μ A1 kΩ 100 mV

I I s  I m
I s I  I m 100 mA  100 μ A 99.9 mA
V 100 mV
Rs  m  1.001 Ω
Is 99.9 mA

(b) FSD = 1 A
V m I m R m 100 mV
I s I  I m 1 A  100 μ A 999.9 mA
V 100 mV
Rs  m  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:
V s I m R m 50 μA 1 kΩ 50 mV
Vs 50 mV
Is   10 mA
R1  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:
V s I m R m  R 3  50 μA 1 kΩ  4.5 Ω  50 mV
Vs 50 mV
Is   100 mA
R1  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 //Rsh 
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
R th

dc circuit with source

Iwom Vth Iwom
and resistors

R th

dc circuit with source Iwm

A Iwm Vth A
and resistors

V
I wom  Th
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 16
 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 percentageR1=2k
of error.R3=15
Solution
2V R2=2k A R in

RTh  R1 //R 2   R 3 2 kΩ

 E   2V 
VTh   R 2   2 kΩ 1 V
 R1  R 2   2 kΩ  2 kΩ 
V 1V
I wom  Th  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% 17