Skip to content
Question of 42

Q.State Kirchoff's law for an electrical network. Using these laws deduce the condition for balance in a wheatstone bridge. Three resistors 2 ohm, 4 ohm and 5 ohm are combined in parallel. What is the total resistance of the combination?

Andhra Pradesh BieapBIEAP Intermediate Board 2018Subjective· 8mImportance★★★★★
0% · 0/42 Questions
🔒 Locked · start free trial →

You're viewing a preview — the full solution, concept, methods & PYQ mapping are locked.

Start your 14-day free trial to unlock the full solution →

Kirchhoff's junction rule (conservation of charge) and loop rule (conservation of energy) let us derive the Wheatstone bridge balance condition P/Q = R/S; the three parallel resistors combine to 20/19 ≈ 1.05 Ω.

Kirchhoff's Laws

1. Junction rule (Kirchhoff's Current Law, KCL): At any junction in an electrical circuit, the algebraic sum of currents meeting at that junction is zero, i.e., the sum of currents entering a junction equals the sum of currents leaving it. This follows from conservation of charge (charge cannot accumulate at a junction in steady state).

∑I=0\sum I = 0

2. Loop rule (Kirchhoff's Voltage Law, KVL): The algebraic sum of changes in potential around any closed loop in a circuit is zero. This follows from conservation of energy (electrostatic force is conservative).

∑ΔV=0\sum \Delta V = 0

Balance condition for a Wheatstone bridge

A Wheatstone bridge has four resistances P,Q,R,SP, Q, R, S arranged in a quadrilateral ABCDABCD, a cell connected between AA and CC, and a galvanometer connected between BB and DD. Let currents I1I_1 (through PP), I2I_2 (through QQ), I3I_3 (through RR), I4I_4 (through SS), and IgI_g (through the galvanometer) flow as labelled.

At balance, no current flows through the galvanometer: Ig=0I_g = 0.

Applying the junction rule at BB: I1=I3I_1 = I_3 (call it I1I_1)

Applying the junction rule at DD: I2=I4I_2 = I_4 (call it I2I_2)

Applying the loop rule to loop ABDAABDA (with Ig=0I_g = 0):

I1P=I2Q...(1)I_1 P = I_2 Q \quad \text{...(1)}

Applying the loop rule to loop BCDBBCDB:

I1R=I2S...(2)I_1 R = I_2 S \quad \text{...(2)}

…

Unlock everything free for 14 days

  • Full step-by-step solutions
  • Concept-first explanations
  • Methods, shortcuts & mistakes
  • PYQ mapping + timed mock tests

Full access for 14 days. No credit card required.