CAREY FOSTER BRIDGE

EXPT NO.

Total Marks:

8

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R

h

E

C

Q

P

R

R

x

G

A

B

Fig 1: Schematic circuit diagram

(½)

AB

: Bridge Wire , 1m length

R

R x

: Fractional resistance box

: Unknown resistance

P,Q

: Standard resistance

G

: Table galvanometer

E

: Lechlanche’s cell

C

: Plug commutator

R _h : Rheostat

WORKING FORMULA:

When the Carey Foster’s bridge is balanced by putting resistance R on the left end and unknown resistance R _X on the right end of the bridge, the null point is obtained at l ₁ cm from the left end . Then plotting R vs. l ₁ , we get a straight line with slope M _1. Again when the Carey Foster’s bridge is balanced by putting unknown resistance R _X on the

left end and R on the right end of the bridge, the null point is obtained at l ₂ cm from the left end. Then plotting R vs. l ₂

on the same graph, we get another straight line with slope M ₂ . These two straight lines do not pass through the origin. The resistance per unit length of the bridge wire is given by:



1



M

2



M

1



From the intersection of these two straight lines, we obtain the unknown resistance R _X.

APPARATUS USED:

 Carey Foster’s Bridge of wire 1 m long.

 Fractional resistance box.

 Unknown resistance

 P,Q: Standard 1 ohm resistance coils

 Plug commutator

 Power supply

 Table galvanometer

EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS:

Table 1: Readings for null points

(2)

A : ( to measure L ₁ cm from the left end with R in left gap and R _X in the right gap )

Obs.

Resistance

Null point in cm

Left gap

Right gap

R

(ohm)

(ohm)

Direct

Reverse

Mean( L 1 )

R

X

B : (L ₂ from the left end with R _X in the left gap and R in the right gap)

(2)

Obs.

Resistance

Null point in cm

Right gap

Left gap

R

(ohm)

(ohm)

Direct

Reverse

Mean( L 2 )

R

X

Table 2 : Consolidated Results from graph (SHOW THE CALCULATIONS OF THE TWO SLOPES)

					(1)
	Slope M 1 From L 1 vs. R graph	Slope M 2 from L 2 vs. R graph	ρ = 1 / (M 2 – M 1 )	Unknown resistance R X Ohm
			ohm/cm
GRAPH					( 1 1/2 )

PERCENTAGE ERROR: (Show The Calculation)

 



 l  l

2

1









l

l

2  1



 2

P.E. =

^  100%





l



l

2

 l

1



=

_l = minimum division of

(1)

the meter scale

L ₁ = Max. value of null point from Table1A and L ₂ = Min. value of null point from Table1B

PRECAUTIONS:

1. By Carey-Foster’s bridge the end corrections can be eliminated from the calculation of unknown

resistance which is not possible using a meter bridge.

2. As the bridge wire is not perfectly uniform, R should be chosen such that the length ( l ₂ - l ₁ ) between

two null point is as large as possible.

3. To prevent the flow of harmfully large currents in the battery circuit the rheostat (Rh) has been

employed.

4. The ratio of P and Q should be equal to 1 or nearly equal to one, otherwise null points may not be

obtained within the bridge wire. For greater sensitiveness of the bridge, the values of P and Q should

be each equal to one ohm.

5. For first observation, the value in R should be so chosen that the two balance points should be very

near to the two ends of the bridge wire. By this (l ₂ - l ₁ ) will be more accurate so that the calculated value of ρ is nearer to accuracy. For the successive observations the value of R should be so chosen so as to shift the null point gradually towards the middle of the wire by steps of about 5cm.

PROCEDURE :

1. Disconnect the resistance box ‘R’ and the unknown resistance ‘R _x ’ and the gap should be connected

by a metal strip.

2.	Find the null point (This should be around 50). This is called electric midpoint
3	a) Connect the resistance box ‘R’ and unknown resistance ‘R x ’ in the left gap and right gap

respectively.

b) Now, keeping the jockey still at the electric midpoint, choose R such that the null point is again

obtained at the electric

midpoint. This value of R gives you a rough estimation of the value of the unknown resistance.

4. Choose a resistance (R ₁ ) from the resistance box so that the null point should be found between 5-10cm and similarly

choose another resistance (R ₂ ) so that the null point should be found between 90-95 cm.

5. Obtain the null points for different resistances between R ₁ and R ₂ . The values should be so chosen that they are at regular intervals.

6. The same steps should be repeated for the previous values of ‘R’ after interchanging the positions of

‘R’ and ‘R _x ’.

7. A graph should be plotted by taking resistance along x-axis and null point along y-axis.

NATURE OF THE GRAPH :

R

x

l in cm

R in ohm