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Q.Mention Kirchhoff's rules for electrical networks and apply them to find the balance condition for Wheatstone bridge. (2+3)

Jharkhand JacJAC Intermediate Board 2024Subjective· 5mImportance★★★★★
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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:

  1. 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.

∑Iin=∑Iout\sum I_{in} = \sum I_{out}

  1. 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.

∑ΔV=0 (around a closed loop)\sum \Delta V = 0 \ \text{(around a closed loop)}

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 (Ig=0I_g = 0).

  • By the junction rule at B: current through P (call it I1I_1) splits into current through Q (I1I_1, since Ig=0I_g=0 means whatever enters B along P must leave along Q) - so the same current I1I_1 flows through P and Q. Similarly, the same current I2I_2 flows through R and S.

  • By the loop rule applied to loop A-B-D-A (through P, then G, then R): since Ig=0I_g = 0, there's no drop across G, so

I1P=I2R...(i)I_1 P = I_2 R \quad \text{...(i)}

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