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Q.Using Kirchhoff's rules, obtain the expression for the balancing condition of Wheatstone bridge.

Karnataka PUCKarnataka II PUC Board 2022Subjective· 5mImportance★★★★★
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Using Kirchhoff's rules on a four-arm bridge P,Q,R,SP,Q,R,S with a galvanometer across the middle, the balance condition (no deflection, Ig=0I_g=0) is PQ=RS\dfrac{P}{Q}=\dfrac{R}{S}.

The Wheatstone bridge. Four resistors PP, QQ, RR, SS form the four arms of a quadrilateral ABCDABCD. A cell (emf) is connected across one diagonal (AA–CC) and a galvanometer GG across the other diagonal (BB–DD). Let the currents be: I1I_1 through PP (arm ABAB), I2I_2 through RR (arm ADAD), IgI_g through the galvanometer (arm BDBD).

Junction rule (Kirchhoff's first law).

At junction BB: current into QQ (arm BCBC) =I1−Ig= I_1 - I_g.

At junction DD: current into SS (arm DCDC) =I2+Ig= I_2 + I_g.

Loop rule (Kirchhoff's second law).

For the loop ABDAABDA (containing PP, galvanometer GG, and RR):

−I1P−IgG+I2R=0...(1)-I_1 P - I_g G + I_2 R = 0 \quad\text{...(1)}

For the loop BCDBBCDB (containing QQ, SS, and GG):

−(I1−Ig)Q+(I2+Ig)S+IgG=0...(2)-(I_1 - I_g)Q + (I_2 + I_g)S + I_g G = 0 \quad\text{...(2)}

Balance condition. The bridge is balanced when the galvanometer shows no deflection, i.e. Ig=0I_g = 0.

Putting Ig=0I_g = 0 in (1): …

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