Design Project: Voltmeter

DC Electric Circuits

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  • Question 1

    The most important component of your voltmeter will be the galvanometer movement itself. Identify some of the ideal characteristics of this device. For example, what should its full-scale current rating be (very high or very low), and why?

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  • Question 2

    Suppose you have found a sensitive meter movement to be the heart of your voltmeter project, but you don’t know much about its electrical characteristics. How would you experimentally determine the two most important characteristics of the meter movement: its full-scale current rating and its coil resistance?

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  • Question 3

    A common adage heard among instrument designers is the phrase, “Don’t make it accurate; make it adjustable.” Modify the example meter design to include independent adjustment for each of the voltage ranges.

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