Q.Mention Kirchhoff's rules for electrical networks and apply them to find the balance condition for Wheatstone bridge. (2+3)
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Start your 14-day free trial to unlock the full solution →Kirchhoff's junction and loop rules, applied to the four arms of a Wheatstone bridge with zero galvanometer current at balance, directly yield the classic balance condition P/Q = R/S.
Kirchhoff's rules:
- Junction rule (Kirchhoff's Current Law): At any junction in a circuit, the algebraic sum of currents meeting at that junction is zero - i.e. total current entering a junction equals total current leaving it. This follows from conservation of charge.
- Loop rule (Kirchhoff's Voltage Law): Around any closed loop in a circuit, the algebraic sum of potential differences (including EMFs and IR drops) is zero. This follows from conservation of energy.
Application to the Wheatstone bridge: The bridge has four resistances P, Q, R, S forming a quadrilateral ABCD (P in AB, Q in BC, R in AD, S in DC), a battery connected across A-C, and a galvanometer G connected across the other diagonal B-D. At balance, no current flows through the galvanometer ().
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By the junction rule at B: current through P (call it ) splits into current through Q (, since means whatever enters B along P must leave along Q) - so the same current flows through P and Q. Similarly, the same current flows through R and S.
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By the loop rule applied to loop A-B-D-A (through P, then G, then R): since , there's no drop across G, so
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