Potentiometer
A potentiometer is an electric device used to measure the emf and internal resistance of a cell, to compare emf of two cells and a potential difference between two points in an electric circuit. It can also be employed to measure the current and resistance in a circuit accurately.
It consists of a uniform wire
of manganin or constantan of length usually
, kept stretched between copper stripes fixed on a wooden board by the side of a metre scale. The wire is divided into ten segments each of
length. These segments are joined in series through metal strips between points
and
. A steady current is maintained in the wire
by a constant source of emf
, called driver cell, that is connected between
and
through a rheostat. A jockey is slided over the potentiometer wire which makes contact with the wire and cell.
let I be the current passing through the potentiometer wire . In a segment AC of the wire, let
be the potential difference across it.
Then,
let I be the current passing through the potentiometer wire
Then,
where
is the resistance of this segment.
If 1 is the length of this segment, its resistance is
If 1 is the length of this segment, its resistance is
where
to the resistivity of the material of the wire and
its cross section area.
From and
, we have
From
Since
and I are all constant,
then
then
The potential difference across any portion of the potential of the potentiometer wire is directly proportional to the length of that portion provided the current is uniform.
Application of Potentiometer
A potentiometer basically measures the potential difference between two points.
1. Determination of Internal Resistance of a Cell
A cell of emf E whose internal resistance
Initiallly the key is open and the emf
of the cell is balanced in the potentiometer wire. Suppose the balanced point obtained at
and let
be the length of wire AD. Then
is balanced by p.d.
across AD. So,
From the principle of potentiometer
Now, a known resistance
is provided by R.B. and the key
is closed. A current l' will pass in the closed circuit of
and
. then a terminal p.d.,
is obtained across the cell which is again balanced by the p.d. in the potentiometer wire. Let
' be the point at which the null deflection is obtained and p.d. across
be
'. So,
If
is the length of this portion
' of the wire, from the principle of potentiometer
Dividing equation
by equation
, we get
and the terminal p.d.,
Substituting these values in equation (iii), we get
Substituting these values in equation (iii), we get
As
and
are known, the internal resistance
of the cell can be determined.
2) Comparison of emfs of two Cells and Determination of emf of a Cell
Two cells whose emfs and
are to be compared are connected in the potentiometer circuit as shown in the figure. The driving cell of emf
maintains a steady current in the circuit of the potentiometer wire
. The positive terminals of
and
are connected at
where positive terminal of
is connected and the negative terminals to the two-way key. A galvanometer is connected between the key and the jockey that slides over the wire.
must be greater than
and
.
2) Comparison of emfs of two Cells and Determination of emf of a Cell
Two cells whose emfs
One of the cells say
is connected in the circuit by closing
of the two-way key and
disconnected by making
open. The jockey is slide along the wire
to find the null point. When the jockey is placed at
near
on the wire, the length of portion
is small and p.d.,
in it is small. As the emf
is greater than
, the current will flow through the galvanometer, G in the direction of
and the galvanometer is deflected in the left direction.
When the jockey is placed at near
, the p.d.,
across portion AD will be greater than
and the current will flow through,
in opposite direction of
So, the galvanometer shows deflection in right direction. This work confirms that the circuit is correct and by trail and error method, a point says
is found at which G shows null deflection. At this condition, p.d.
across
is equal to emf,
and in the galvanometer coil. So, whole emf
is balanced by the p.d.
in the length
of the wire. So, at the balanced condition,
When the jockey is placed at
From the principle of potentiometer,
So
So
Similar work is repeated for the next cell,
. Then we will get
Dividing
. (i) by Eq. (ii), we get
Sincel l1 and
are measured in the potentiometer wire,
can be determined.
If the emf of one cell, say is known, the emf of the other cell can be determined as
.
If the emf of one cell, say
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