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Resistance Measurement Techniques Explained

The document discusses different types of interfacing circuits used for measurement, including DC voltage dividers, the Wheatstone bridge, and AC bridges. The Wheatstone bridge is presented as an improved DC circuit compared to a simple voltage divider for measuring small resistance changes, as it provides cancellation of any DC offset. AC bridges are then introduced as tools for measuring capacitance and impedance.

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Abdalrhman juber
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60 views11 pages

Resistance Measurement Techniques Explained

The document discusses different types of interfacing circuits used for measurement, including DC voltage dividers, the Wheatstone bridge, and AC bridges. The Wheatstone bridge is presented as an improved DC circuit compared to a simple voltage divider for measuring small resistance changes, as it provides cancellation of any DC offset. AC bridges are then introduced as tools for measuring capacitance and impedance.

Uploaded by

Abdalrhman juber
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Interfacing Circuits- DC and AC Bridges

 Measurement of resistance
◦ Voltage dividers
◦ Wheatstone Bridge
◦ Temperature compensation for strain gauges
 AC bridges
◦ Measurement of capacitance
◦ Measurement of impedance
Voltage divider
 Assumptions
◦ Interested in measuring the fractional change
in resistance x of the sensor: RS=R0(1+x)
 R0 is the sensor resistance in the absence of a
stimuli
◦ Load resistor expressed as RL=R0k for
convenience
 The output voltage of the circuit is

Questions
What if we reverse RS and RL?
How can we recover RS from Vout?
Voltage Divider
Wheatstone bridge
Wheatstone bridge
 What is the sensitivity of the Wheatstone
bridge?

 The sensitivity of the Wheatstone bridge is the same as that of a


voltage divider
• You can think of the Wheatstone bridge as a DC offset removal
circuit
 So what are the advantages, if any, of the Wheatstone bridge?
Voltage divider vs. Wheatstone for small x
 The figures below show the output of both circuits for small
fractional resistance changes
◦ The voltage divider has a large DC offset compared to the voltage swing,
which makes the curves look “flat” (zero sensitivity)
 Imagine measuring the height of a person standing on top of a tall building by
running a large tape measure from the street
 The sensitivity of both circuits is the same!
◦ However, the Wheatstone bridge sensitivity can be boosted with a gain
stage
 Assuming that our DAQ hardware dynamic range is 0-5VDC, 0<x<0.01 and
k=1, estimate the maximum gain that could be applied to each circuit
Compensation in a Wheatstone bridge
 Strain gauges are quite sensitive to temperature
◦ A Wheatstone bridge and a dummy strain gauge may be used to
compensate for this effect
 The “active” gauge RA is subject to temperature (x) and strain (y)
stimuli
 The dummy gauge RD, placed near the “active” gauge, is only subject
to temperature
◦ The gauges are arranged according to the figures below
◦ The effect of (1+y) on the right divider cancels out
Exercise
Let's say you had a photocell with the following
specifications:
Rlight=500 Ω
Rdark=10 kΩ

Which of the following would be suitable choices for R, given that you would like
the swing of Vout to include both positive and negative voltages?
AC bridges
AC Bridges

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