Electrical Measuring Instruments

Galvanometer
Can be calibrated to measure
current (or voltage)

Example: Full-scale deflection

Ifs =1 mA, internal coil resistance
Rc =20

V I fs Rc 0.020V

I fs Rc ( I a I fs ) Rsh
For max current reading Ia of 50mA

Rsh 0.408
Req 0.4

Vv I fs ( Rc Rsh )
For max voltage reading Vv =10V

Rsh 9980
Req 10,000

Charging a Capacitor
(instantaneous application of Kirchhoffs
rules to non-steady-state situation)

Use lower case v, i, q to denote time-varying voltage, current and charge

q iR 0

C
t 0: q 0
dq
q
i

dt R RC

Initial current I 0

Final conditions, i=0 Q f C

dq
q

dt R RC
dq
dt

q C
RC

t
q (t ) C (1 exp(
))
RC
dq
t
t
i
exp(
) I 0 exp(
)
dt R
RC
RC
Time-constant

RC
When time is small, capacitor charges quickly.
For that either resistance or capacitance must be
small (in either case current flows easier)

Discharging a capacitor

q
IR 0
C
t 0: q Q
dq
q
I

dt RC
t
)
RC
Q
t
I (t ) exp( )

q (t ) Q exp(

Power distribution systems

Everything is connected in parallel

V=120 V (US and Canada)
V=220-240 V (Europe, Asia)

Circuit Overloads and Short Circuits

Fuse

Circuit breaker

Utility power (kW*h)

1 kW h (103W )(3600 s) 3.6 10

6 J

Magnetism
First observation ~2500 years ago
in fragments of magnetized iron ore
Previously, interaction was thought
in terms of magnetic poles
The pole that points North on the magnetic
field of the Earth is called north pole
When points South south pole
By analogy with electric field bar magnet
sets up a magnetic field in a space around it
Earth itself is a magnet. Compass needle
aligns itself along the earths magnetic field

Earth as a magnet

Magnetic Poles vs Electric Charge

The interaction between magnetic poles is similar to the Coulomb

interaction of electric charges BUT magnetic poles always come in
pairs (N and S), nobody has observed yet a single pole (monopole).
Despite numerous searches, no evidence of magnetic charges exist.
In other words, there are no particles which create a radial magnetic
field in the way an electric charge creates a radial field.

Magnetic Field
Electric charges produce electric fields E and, when
move, magnetic fields B
In turn, charged particles experience forces in those
fields:
Lorentz force acting on charge q moving with velocity
v in electric field E and magnetic field B

F q (E v B )
For now we will concentrate on how magnetic force affects
moving charged particles and current-carrying conductors
Like electric field, magnetic field is a vector field, B

Magnetic Forces on Moving Charges

Force F is perpendicular to the plane of v and B
and numerically equal to

F q v B q vB sin
Direction of F is specified as follows

F q v B

Unit for magnetic field :

N
N
1 Tesla (T)

C m/s A m
1 T 10 4 Gauss (G)

The right hand rule is a useful mnemonic for visualizing the direction of a magnetic force
as given by the Lorentz force law. The diagrams above are two of the forms used to
visualize the force on a moving positive charge. The force is in the opposite direction for
a negative charge moving in the direction shown. One fact to keep in mind is that the
magnetic force is perpendicular to both the magnetic field and the charge velocity, but
that leaves two possibilities. The right hand rule just helps you pin down which of the two
directions applies.

Measuring Magnetic Fields with Test Charges

Total force with both electric and
magnetic fields acting on the charge q

Example: Magnetic force on a proton

Beam of protons moves at v=300000 m/s
through a uniform field B=2.0 T at an angle
30 degrees relative to the field direction

F q( E v B)

Alternative rule direction of right-hand-thread

screw would advance when turned in the same
direction as rotation of vector v toward B for a
positive charge

Which direction does the charge deflect?

a)Up
b)Down
c)It keeps going straight

Magnetic field does NO work; only the

direction of the velocity changes, not its
magnitude!

Application: The Mass Spectrometer

An atom or molecule is ionized by knocking one or
more electrons off to give a positive ion. This is true
even for things which you would normally expect to
form negative ions (chlorine, for example) or never
form ions at all (argon, for example). Mass
spectrometers always work with positive ions.
The ions are accelerated so that they all have the same
kinetic energy.
The ions are then deflected by a magnetic field
according to their masses. The lighter they are, the
more they are deflected.
The amount of deflection also depends on the number
of positive charges on the ion - in other words, on how
many electrons were knocked off in the first stage. The
more the ion is charged, the more it gets deflected.
The beam of ions passing through the machine is
detected electrically.

TEGA ovens

The Phoenix Mass Spectrometer

Scoop dumping martian soil into a
TEGA oven