Lecture 1:

Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION TO INSTRUMENTATION

Objectives:
 List three functions of instruments
 List three advantages of electronic instruments over electrical instruments
 Define terms related to the quality of instruments
 List and describe four categories of standards
 List and describe the three elements of electronic components
 Define terms related to error and error analysis
 Perform basic statistical analysis calculations

INTRODUCTION

analog instrument
 refers to deflection-type instrument (with a scale and movable pointer)

digital instrument
 refers to instrument which displays in decimal(digital) form the value of the
quantity being measured.

FUNCTION AND CHARACTERISTICS OF INSTRUMENTS

Functions:
1. provide visual indication of the quantity being measured
2. furnish permanent record
3. to control a quantity

 General-purpose electrical and electronic test instruments provide indicating

and recording functions.
 The instrumentation used in industrial-process situations frequently provides a
control function.
 The entire system may then be called a control or automated system.

ELECTRICAL UNITS

6 ELECTRICAL QUANTITIES
1. Electric charge (Q)
2. Electric current (I)
3. Electromotive force or potential difference (V)
4. Resistance (R)
5. Inductance (L)
6. Capacitance (C)
 Name Symbol Unit Measure
metre l m length
kilogram m kg mass
second t s time
ampere I A electric current
kelvin T K thermodynamic temperature
mole N mol amount of substance
candela J cd luminous intensity

MEASUREMENT STANDARDS

international standards
 Are defined by international agreement
 Are maintained at the International Bureau of Weight and Measures (Paris)
 Are periodically evaluated and checked by absolute measurements in terms of
the fundamental units of physics.

primary
 Are maintained at national standards laboratories in different countries
 Primary standards are not available for use outside the national laboratories.
 Their principal function is the calibration and verification of secondary standards

secondary standards
 Are the basic reference standards used by measurement and calibration
laboratories in the industry to which they belong.
 Each industrial laboratory is completely responsible for its own secondary
standards.
 Each laboratory periodically sends its secondary standards to the national
standards laboratory for calibration.
 After calibration the secondary standards are returned to the industrial laboratory
with a certification of measuring accuracy in terms of a primary standard.

working standards
 Are the principal tools of a measurements laboratory.
 Are used to check and calibrate the instruments used in the laboratory or to
make comparison measurements in industrial application.

ERROR IN MEASUREMENT

Instrument
 a device or mechanism used to determine the present value of a quantity under
observation
measurement
 the art (or process) of determining the amount, quantity, degree, or capacity by
comparison (direct or indirect) with accepted standards of the system of units
employed.

expected value
 the design value, that is, “the most probable value” that calculations indicate
one should expect to measure

accuracy
 the degree of exactness of a measurement compared to the expected value,
or the most probable value, of the variable being measured.

resolution
 the smallest change in a measured variable to which an instrument will respond

precision
 a measure of the consistency or repeatability of measurements
measurement
 is the process of comparing an unknown quantity with an accepted standard
quantity.
 It involves connecting a measuring instrument into the system under consideration
and observing the resulting response on the instrument.
 The measurement obtained is a quantitative measure of the so-called true
value/expected value

The degree to which a measurement conforms to the expected value is expressed in

terms of the error of the measurement.

Error may be expressed either as absolute or as a percent error:

Absolute Error

𝒆 = 𝒀𝒏 − 𝑿𝒏
where
e=absolute error
Yn= expected value
Xn= measured value

PERCENT ERROR

𝑨𝒃𝒔𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒕𝒆 𝑬𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒓
𝑷𝒆𝒓𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝑬𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒓 = (𝟏𝟎𝟎)
𝑬𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝑽𝒂𝒍𝒖𝒆

Or
𝒆
𝑷𝒆𝒓𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝑬𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒓 = (𝟏𝟎𝟎)
𝒀𝒏

Or
𝒀𝒏 − 𝑿𝒏
𝑷𝒆𝒓𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝑬𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒓 = | | (𝟏𝟎𝟎)
𝒀𝒏

RELATIVE ACCURACY

𝒀𝒏 − 𝑿𝒏
𝑨=𝟏−| |
𝒀𝒏
Where
A= relative accuracy

PERCENT ACCURACY

𝒂 = 𝟏𝟎𝟎% − 𝑷𝒆𝒓𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝑬𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒓 = 𝑨 𝒙 𝟏𝟎𝟎

PRECISION

 is a quantitative, or numerical, indication of the closeness with which a repeated

set of measurements of the same variable agrees with the average of the set of
measurements.
 If a measurement is accurate, it must also be precise
 Accuracy implies precision, but the reverse of it is not necessarily true

̅𝒏
𝑿𝒏 − 𝑿
𝑷𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏 = 𝟏 − | |
̅𝒏
𝑿
Where

𝑿𝒏 = the value of the nth measurement

̅ 𝒏= the value of the set of n measurements
𝑿

EXAMPLE 1-1

The expected value of the voltage across a resistor is 50V; however, measurement
yields a value of 49V. Calculate the

a. Absolute error
b. Percent error
c. Relative accuracy
d. Percent of accuracy

EXAMPLE 1-2

The following set of ten measurements was recorded in the laboratory. Calculate the
precision of the fourth measurement.

Measurement Measurement
Number Value Xn (volts)
1 98
2 102
3 101
4 97
5 100
6 103
7 98
8 106
9 107
10 99
GROSS ERRORS
 Are generally the fault of the person using the instruments and are due to such
things as incorrect reading of instruments, incorrect recording of experimental
data, or incorrect use of instruments.

SYSTEMATIC ERRORS
 Are due to problems with instruments, environmental effects, or observational
errors. These errors recur if several measurements are made of the same quantity
under the same conditions.

1. Instrument errors
 May be due to friction in the bearings of the meter movement, incorrect
spring tension, improper calibration, or faulty instruments.
 Instrument error can be reduced by proper maintenance, use, and
handling of instruments

2. Environmental errors
 Environmental conditions in which instruments are used may cause errors.
 Subjecting instruments to harsh environments such as high temperature,
pressure, or humidity, or strong electrostatic or electromagnetic fields, may
have detrimental effects, thereby causing error.

3. Observational errors
 Are those errors introduced by the observer.
 The two most common observational errors are
i. Parallax error in reading a meter scale
ii. Error of estimation when obtaining a reading from a meter scale

RANDOM ERRORS
 Are those that remain after the gross and systematic errors have been substantially
reduced, or at least accounted for.
 Are generally the accumulation of a large number of small effects and may be of
real concern only in measurements requiring a high degree of accuracy
 Such errors can only be analyzed statistically
EXAMPLE 1-3

The following table of values represents a meter output in terms of the angular
displacement of the needle, expressed in degrees, for a series of identical input
currents. Determine the worst-case precision of the readings.

Iin (µA) Output

Displacement
(degrees)
10 20.10
10 20.00
10 20.20
10 19.80
10 19.70
10 20.00
10 20.30
10 20.10