Q.Mention Kirchhoff's rules for electrical networks and apply them to find an expression for the balance condition for Wheatstone bridge.
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Start your 14-day free trial to unlock the full solution →Kirchhoff's junction and loop rules, applied to a Wheatstone bridge with zero galvanometer current, give the balance condition P/Q = R/S.
KIRCHHOFF'S RULES:
- Junction Rule (Kirchhoff's Current Law, based on conservation of charge): at any junction in a circuit, the sum of currents flowing INTO the junction equals the sum of currents flowing OUT of it (no charge accumulates at a junction).
- Loop Rule (Kirchhoff's Voltage Law, based on conservation of energy): the algebraic sum of all the potential differences (changes) around any closed loop in a circuit is zero.
WHEATSTONE BRIDGE: it consists of four resistances P, Q, R, S arranged in a diamond/rhombus: P and Q form one pair of adjacent arms meeting at a junction A (from the battery side), and R and S form the other pair, with a galvanometer G connected across the bridge's middle diagonal (between the junction of P & R, and the junction of Q & S), and a battery connected across the outer diagonal.
Let the current from the battery split into I1 (through P then R) and I2 (through Q then S) at the input junction; let Ig be the current through the galvanometer branch. At BALANCE, the bridge is adjusted so that no current flows through the galvanometer, i.e. Ig = 0.
Applying the JUNCTION rule at the two middle nodes, with Ig = 0: the current through P equals the current through R (call it I1), and the current through Q equals the current through S (call it I2).
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