An Introduction To Electrical Measurements

Introduction Measuring Voltage Measuring Current

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Introduction Electrical measurements often come down to either measuring current or measuring voltage. Even if you are measuring frequency, you will be measuring the frequency of a current signal or a voltage signal and you will need to know how to measure either voltage or current. In this short lesson, we will examine those two measurements - starting with measuring voltage. However, first we should note a few common characteristics of the meters you use for those measurements. Many times you will use a digital multimeter - a DMM - to measure either voltage or current. Actually, a DMM will also usually measure frequency (of a voltage signal) and resistance. You should note the following about typical DMMs.

Polarity is important. Usually the terminals of the DMM will be coded to indicate polarity. Often that polarity is indicated by a red terminal (positive) and a black terminal (negative). In other cases, the polarity could be indicated by printed notes on the terminals. Often one of the terminals on the DMM may be connected to the ground. That would normally be the black terminal, or it may be indicated with a ground symbol.

With that in mind, let's get on to measuring voltage. Measuring Voltage Voltage is one of the most common quantities measured. That's because many other variables - like temperature, for example - are measured by generating a voltage with a sensor. So, even if you want to measure temperature you might end up having to measure a voltage and convert that reading into the temperature reading you wanted.

Voltage is measured with a voltmeter. However, digital multimeters (DMMs) which can function as voltmeters - often have considerably more capability and can measure current, resistance and frequency. And, there are other instruments like oscilloscopes - that measure voltage and should be thought of as voltmeters. No matter what the instrument is, if it measures voltage you have to treat the instrument as a voltmeter. When you measure voltage you have to remember that voltage is an across variable. When you measure voltage you have to connect the voltmeter to the two points in a circuit where you want to measure voltage. Here is a circuit with a voltmeter connected to measure the voltage across element #4.

Note the following about this measurement.

Notice that the voltmeter measures the voltage across element #4, +V4. (And, the plus sign is important. Remember the polarity issue.) Notice the polarity definitions for V4, and notice how the red terminal is connected to the "+" end of element #4. If you reversed the leads, by connecting the red lead to the "-" terminal on element #4 and the black lead to the "+" end of element #4, you would be measuring -V4.

And, remember this as well.

When you measure voltage, the voltmeter should not disturb the circuit where you are attempting to measure the voltage. In the circuit above, that disturbance is the current drawn by the voltmeter. You want that current to be as close to zero as it can possibly be. That means that you need to have the resistance of the voltmeter as large as possible. There's more discussion of that effect in the lesson on measuring voltage. Ideally, the resistance of a voltmeter would be infinite.

There are numerous different instruments, and we have a separate lesson just on measuring voltage that discusses some of those instrument, and you can get to that lesson by clicking here. Measuring Current Current is measured with an ammeter. While voltage is a more common measurement, it is often necessary to measure current. When measuring current, it is important to remember that current is a flow variable. Current flows through electrical elements, and if you want to measure current you have to get it to flow through the ammeter. Here's the same circuit we used in the example above. Consider what we would have to do to measure the current flowing through element #4.

If we want to measure the current through element #4, we have to get that current to flow through the ammeter. Here's a way to insert an ammeter into the circuit to measure that current.

However, this doesn't give the whole picture. Remember that polarity is important. In the circuit the polarity for the voltage across element #4 is

defined, but the current polarity is not defined. In the diagram below, we have defined the direction of that current, and given it an algebraic name, Im.

As with the voltmeter, you need to pay attention to the polarity, and you also want to remember this.

When you measure current, the ammeter should not disturb the circuit where you are attempting to measure the current. In the circuit above, that disturbance is the voltage across the ammeter. You want that voltage to be as close to zero as it can possibly be. That means that you need to have the resistance of the voltmeter as small as possible. Ideally, the resistance of an ammeter would be zero.

Instrumentation Measurement Data Study Guide

(Links to material about data from measurements with instruments)

Measurements with digital instruments (voltmeters, data acquisition units, etc.) have properties that depend upon the circuitry in the instruments, including properties of the data converters used. You need to understand those properties because they affect the accuracy of the measurements, the price of the instruments and the speed (data rate) of the instruments.

What do you need to know about digital instrument measurements? o You need to learn about converters:

Digital-to-Analog (D/A) converters. Analog-to-Digital (A/D) converters. Instrument Data You need to learn about how converter "size" (i.e. 8 bits, 10 bits, etc.) affects data representation and choice of scales. Digital Voltmeters (Scales vs # bits, etc.)

Digital Voltmeters
Digital Voltmeters (DVMs) are a special case of A/Ds. DVMs are voltmeters i.e. they measure voltage - and are general purpose instruments commonly used to measure voltages in labs and in the field. DVMs display the measured voltage using LCDs or LEDs to display the result in a floating point format. They are an instrument of choice for voltage measurements in all kinds of situations. Obviously, if voltage measurements are taken and the results are displayed digitally with LED or LCD displays, the instrument has to contain an A/D converter. Digital voltmeters have some characteristics that you might need to understand.

Digital voltmeters usually have scales that are 0-0.3v, 0-3v, 0-30v, 0-300v, etc.

It is not clear why those ranges were chosen but they are commonplace. Now, consider some of the implications of these facts. Example E1 Consider a voltmeter built around a 10 bit A/D converter. We will assume the following.

The range of the voltmeter is from 0-3v, and it does DC voltage measurements. It does not measure negative voltages.

Then, with 10 bits we can draw these inferences.

Ten bits will produce 210 intervals. That's 1024 intervals. If there are 1024 intervals over a range of 3v, each interval will be 3/1024 = .00293v. It is easier to compute the displayed voltage if the interval is adjusted to .003v. o That would make the range 0-3.072v. (That's .003 x 1024.) o If you are measuring a voltage that varies around 3v, that would allow you to keep the range the same, but still change the range (if the instrument also has a 0-30v range, for instance) when the voltage got large enough. Manufacturers like to build in a little "hysteresis" to prevent constant range changes in situations like that and it might be especially hard on auto-ranging meters. If you wanted to measure negative voltages and have the range be from -3v to +3v, you would have intervals of .006v, and the meter would measure from -3.072v to +3.072v. If you wanted to measure voltages on a 0-30v scale, you would probably use a voltage divider or some other way to reduce the voltage by a factor of (exactly) 10 (i.e., multiply it by exactly 0.1) and then use the same converter as on the 0-3v scale.

If we could use a 12 bit A/D, then some conclusions would change.

Twelve bits will produce 212 intervals. That's 4096 intervals. If there are 4096 intervals over a range of 3v, each interval will be 3/4096 = .000732v. It is easier to compute the displayed voltage if the interval is adjusted to .0075v. o That would make the range 0-3.072v - just as it was in the case of the 10 bit converter, o That produces the same advantages as you had with the 10 bit converter. If you wanted to measure negative voltages and have the range be from -3v to +3v, you would have intervals of .0015v, and the meter would measure from -3.072v to +3.072v.

A Note on Voltmeter Specifications

In the example you saw a few typical voltmeter possibilities. For some reason voltmeters have had scales like 0-3v, 0-30v, etc. for a long time. You might have expected 0-1v and 0-10v, etc. to be more common. However, that's not the way it is, and it probably won't change any time soon. That situation has led to some interesting ways to specify voltmeters. If you had a voltmeter that had a 0-1v range, and it had ten bits, it would probably be designed to have a range from 0-1.024v, and it would measure voltages in steps of .001v. Then, the measurement results would be things like 0.314v or 0.582v, things like that. Displayed values would all have exactly three decimal places, and the instrument would be referred to as a 3 digit meter. If you use the same converter on a 0-10v scale (and put the voltage through a 0.1x voltage divider!), then the results would be things like 3.14v or 5.82v. You would get exactly the same number of significant figures, and you would still refer to the meter as a 3 digit meter. Let's think about this situation.

If you have a voltmeter with a 0-1v scale that can read increments of .001v the meter is a 3 digit meter. If you have a voltmeter with a 0-1v scale that can read increments of .0001v the meter is a 4 digit meter. If you have a voltmeter with a 0-10v scale that can read increments of .001v the meter is a 4 digit meter. If you have a voltmeter with a 0-100v scale that can read increments of .001v the meter is a 5 digit meter.

Now, what if you have a meter that has a 0-3v scale that can read increments of .001v? How many digits is that meter?

The Number Of Digits In A DVM

You need to be able to answer the question in the last section. When you buy a meter it may tell you the number of digits and you need to know what that means, especially when the scales are 0-3v, etc. Here is the story.

A meter that reads in increments of .001v and has a 0-1v range is a 3 digit meter.

A meter that reads in increments of .001v and has a 0-10v range is a 4 digit meter. A meter that reads in increments of .001v and has a 0-100v range is a 5 digit meter.

Notice the logarithmic nature of the relationship, summarized in this table.

Range (v) 0-1 0-10 0-100

Digits (for .001v) 3 4 5

If the high limit of the scale is 3, that's almost halfway between 1 and 10 on a logarithmic scale. (The mid point is really at the square root of ten.) A meter that has a range of 0-3v is said to be a 3 1/2 digit meter when it has intervals of .001v. That's halfway between 3 and 4 digits. There is another way to look at the question of digits. If you have a meter that has a 0-10v scale that reads in increments of .01v that's a 3 bit meter. That meter has 1000 steps, and 1000=103. Let's repeat the table from above, but include the log10 of the number of steps.

Range 0-1v 0-10v 0-30v 0-100v

Digits (for .001v) 3 4 4.5? 5

#Steps 1000 10,000 30,000 100,000

log10(#Steps) 3 4 4.47 5

We included an extra row for a 0-30v meter. We also included the number of steps and a suggestion for the number of digits we can claim for the meter. It looks reasonable to call a 0-30v meter with 30,000 steps a 4.5 digit meter, and that's the way they are sold.

That's it for digits in a voltmeter. That's the way that they are specified, and that's what you pay for when you buy a DVM. The number of digits is determined by the number of bits in the A/D, and we need to look at that idea just a little bit more. Click here for a lab exercise that gets you thinking about the topic.

Measuring Frequency
Introduction

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When you measure frequency, you are often measuring the frequency of a voltage signal, so the first thing you need to remember is that you are making a voltage measurement, so that everything that is important to a voltage measurement will be important when you measure a frequency. In particular, you need to remember the following.

When you measure a voltage the two terminals of the voltmeter (in the figure, the red terminal and the black terminal) are connected to the two points where the voltage appears that you want to measure. One terminal say it is the red terminal - will then be at the same voltage as one of the points, and the other terminal - the black terminal - will be at the same voltage as the other point. The meter then responds to the difference between these two voltages. When you measure voltage, the voltmeter should not disturb the circuit where you are attempting to measure the voltage. In the circuit above, that disturbance is the current drawn by the voltmeter. You want that current to be as close to zero as it can possibly be. That means that you need to have the resistance of the voltmeter as large as possible. There's more discussion of that effect in the lesson on measuring voltage. Ideally, the resistance of a voltmeter would be infinite.

In most cases, when you measure frequency you take the above into consideration, and then you adjust the meter to take a frequency measurement. That's usually just a matter of a adjusting a single control on the instrument. If you want to measure frequency, there are some things to understand about that kind of measurement.

Measuring Frequency When you measure the frequency of a voltage signal, the typical instrument will do the following.

First, the instrument is connected like a voltmeter, and set to measure frequency. When the measurement is taken, the instrument counts the signal. It might count zero crossings of the signal, or it might just assume that the signal is a sequence of pulses, and count the pulses. In either case, the instrument counts for a predetermined length of time, T (which you might be able to control). Then, the frequency is computed by dividing the count by the time period, T. o The computation of frequency cannot have a resolution better than one count. For example, if the instrument counts for one second, a count of ten would compute as 10 Hz, and a count of 11 would compute as 11 Hz. You couldn't get a good measurement of 10.5 Hz, and would always be off by 0.5 Hz. What you got would depend upon the timing of the count - when it started. o The resolution is probably not a problem if you are interested in a 20KHz signal and the instrument counts for a second, but you have to be cognizant of what is taking place. That's the one thing you need to be cognizant of when you take a frequency

measurement. Remember that and the instrument won't fool you.