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A simple experiment to determine the characteristics of an NTC thermistor for lowtemperature measurement applications

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2012 Eur. J. Phys. 33 1135
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IOP PUBLISHING

EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICS

Eur. J. Phys. 33 (2012) 11351145

doi:10.1088/0143-0807/33/5/1135

A simple experiment to determine the

characteristics of an NTC thermistor
for low-temperature measurement
applications
A Mawire
Department of Physics and Electronics, North West University, Mafikeng Campus,
Private Bag X2046, Mmabatho, 2735, South Africa
E-mail: 18027938@nwu.ac.za and ashmawire02@yahoo.co.uk

Received 19 April 2012, in final form 29 May 2012

Published 2 July 2012
Online at stacks.iop.org/EJP/33/1135
Abstract

A simple low-cost experiment for undergraduate students to determine the

characteristics of a negative temperature coefficient of resistance thermistor is
presented. The experiment measures the resistancetemperature and voltage
temperature characteristics of the thermistor. Results of the resistance
temperature experiment are used to determine the sensitivity index of the
thermistor material. The experimental sensitivity index of the thermistor
material is found to be close to the one from the datasheet of the manufacturer.
Two voltagetemperature measurement circuits are tested experimentally,
namely the Wheatstone bridge circuit and the operational amplifier (Opamp)
bridge circuit. The Wheatstone bridge circuit produces a better sensitivity
than the Opamp bridge circuit. The best linearity is obtained with a modified
Opamp bridge circuit at an expense of reducing the sensitivity. The low cost
of the experimental setup makes it suitable for implementation in universities
with very limited resources, especially in developing countries.
(Some figures may appear in colour only in the online journal)
1. Introduction

A thermistor is a semiconductor device in which the resistance varies with temperature.

There are basically two types of thermistors, namely the positive temperature coefficient of
resistance (PTC) and the negative temperature coefficient of resistance (NTC) thermistor. A
PTC thermistor increases its resistance with an increase in the temperature, while an NTC
thermistor decreases its resistance with an increase in the temperature. The advantages of
thermistors for temperature measurements are the high sensitivity yielding a high resolution
and the high resistivity that permits them to be small mass units with fast responses [1]. The
thermistor is a nonlinear device and can be used with minimal signal conditioning circuitry
to measure the temperatures in narrow temperature ranges such as undergraduate laboratory
c 2012 IOP Publishing Ltd Printed in the UK & the USA
0143-0807/12/051135+11$33.00 

1135

1136

A Mawire

experiments. Most experimental laboratory practicals in physics in developing countries are

hampered due to the lack of equipment; thus laboratories involving low-cost equipment with
moderate accuracy need to be developed.
Owing to its popularity after invention, the thermistor has been used for different
applications with different complexities in the past 40 to 50 years [26]. In recent times,
work related to thermistor has also been done for various applications [712]. All of these
previous works are rather too specific for the problem being solved or are a bit complicated for
teaching the physical principles to students with no prior knowledge of thermistors. In a typical
physics laboratory, the thermistor resistance experiment is ideal since the equipment required
is of low cost. Most traditional laboratory practicals performed on thermistors usually find the
variation in the resistance as the temperature increases or decreases with a multi-meter. The
variation in the resistance is thus used to evaluate the thermistors properties. Another popular
experiment is a Wheatstone bridge setup in which the variation in the temperature produces
a corresponding variation in the bridge voltage. The thermistor thus acts as a limited range
low-temperature thermometer which can be calibrated with respect to a reference from an
accurate digital thermometer. In traditional experimental laboratories involving the thermistor,
the maximum nonlinearity of the thermistor is rarely evaluated for a given temperature range,
the sensitivity is rarely evaluated and simple methods of improving the nonlinearity are rarely
examined. For students to appreciate the limitations of any practical measurement system,
some measurement quantities such as sensitivity and nonlinearity need to be evaluated. This
enables the students to be analysers as well as practical designers of simple measurement
equipment related to basic physics principles.
In this particular paper, a simple experiment to determine the resistancetemperature
characteristics of an NTC thermistor is presented. Two thermistor bridge circuits for voltage
temperature measurements involving a Wheatstone bridge and an operational amplifier
(Opamp) bridge are also presented. The voltagetemperature characteristics of these two
circuits are also analysed. The Opamp bridge circuit is also minimally modified to improve its
linearity.
2. Theory
2.1. Resistance variation with temperature

The resistance variation with temperature of a thermistor for a small temperature range is
given as [13]
 

,
(1)
RT = K exp
T
where T is the thermodynamic temperature in Kelvin, K is a constant and is a constant referred
to as the sensitivity index of the thermistor material. For an NTC thermistor, K signifies the
resistance when 1/T approaches zero i.e. the resistance when the temperature approaches a
very large value. Linearizing equation (1) by expressing it as natural logarithms yields

(2)
ln(RT ) = ln K + .
T
By plotting a graph of ln (RT ) versus T1 , the constants K and can be determined. The
constant can be used to determine the energy gap, Eg, of the thermistor using the relationship
Eg
(3)
= ,
2k
where k = 8.617 105 eV K1 is the Boltzmann constant.

A simple experiment to determine the characteristics of an NTC thermistor

1137

Figure 1. Wheatstone bridge temperature to voltage signal conditioning circuit.

2.2. Voltage variation with temperature

For the circuit shown in figure 1, the output voltage of the

Wheatstone bridge for an NTC thermistor can be expressed as


R
R R

VS
(4)
VO =
R + R R R + R
by applying the voltage divider rule where R is the change in resistance of the thermistor from
its initial resistance of R. R R implies that the thermistor resistance reduces as temperature
increases. Equation (4) can be simplified to yield


R
1
VS .
(5)
VO =
4 R R
2

2.2.1. Wheatstone bridge circuit.

The equation shows that the output voltage depends on the change in the resistance, R
in the denominator. If R is much less than R,
in the numerator and the difference R R
2
equation (5) becomes


1 R
VS .
(6)
VO
4 R
Figure 2 shows a single-element varying active bridge in which
an Opamp produces a forced null, by adding a voltage in series with the variable arm. That
voltage is equal in magnitude and polarity to the incremental voltage across the varying
element and is linear with R. Since it is an Opamp output, it can be used as a low impedance
output point for the bridge measurement. This active bridge has a gain of 2 over the standard
single-element varying bridge, and the output is expected to be more linear, even for large
values of R.
For the circuit of figure 2, the output voltage can be expressed as
R
,
(7)
VO = VB
2R

2.2.2. Opamp bridge circuit.

1138

A Mawire

Figure 2. Opamp bridge temperature to voltage signal conditioning circuit.

where R is the change in the resistance of the thermistor and VB is the bridge voltage.
Equation (7) shows that the output voltage depends directly on the change in the resistance
of the thermistor with temperature. This implies that the output voltage can be used as an
inference of the temperature change directly.
3. Experimental methods

The overall experimental setup for both resistancetemperature and voltagetemperature

measurements is shown by the photograph of figure 3. A Fried Electric [14] electrical hotplate
was used to heat up an oil bath. The hotplate has a simostat which can control the heating
power and a magnetic stirrer to distribute the heat evenly during heating. A test tube containing
water, the NTC thermistor (part no TTC05103KSY) [15] and a J-type of thermocouple was
placed inside the oil bath such that water was heated by the surrounding heat of the oil bath.
Heat transfer oil was particularly chosen as the bath medium since water tends to boil as
100 C (373 K) is approached and this tends to create pressuring bubbles.
Two digital multi-meters were used to measure the temperature (with a J-thermocouple
probe) and the voltage/resistance variation as heating progressed. The multi-meters were the
TBM 815 series distributed by Toptronic electronics [16] bought in South Africa for about
R 800 ($100) each. The accuracy of the multi-meter is 0.08% + 2 digits for measuring the
dc voltage, 0.4% + 3 digits for measuring the voltage and 0.3% + 3 digits for measuring the
temperature. These accuracies were deemed adequate for the experiments. The uncertainties
in the measurement of the voltage, resistance and temperature were estimated to be 0.001 V,
10  and 1 C, respectively. Voltagetemperature measurements and resistance
temperature measurements were monitored and recorded manually for every 5 C rise in
the temperature as heating progressed.
3.1. Resistancetemperature measurements

For resistancetemperature measurements, the heating experiment was started at 0 C (273 K)

by placing an ice bath in the test tube in thermal contact with the thermocouple and the
thermistor. No signal conditioning circuitry was employed and a direct reading of resistance
was measured. The temperature and resistance values were monitored by the two multi-meters

A simple experiment to determine the characteristics of an NTC thermistor

1139

Figure 3. Photograph of the experimental setup.

as the heating process progressed. Temperature and resistance values were measured for every
5 C (5 K) rise in the temperature up to 95 C (368 K).
3.2. Voltagetemperature measurements

The Wheatstone bridge experimental circuit

is shown in figure 4. A 2.2 M (RP) was connected in parallel with resistor R4 such that the
bridge could be balanced to produce approximately 0 V at 25 C. The parallel combination
of R4 and RP produced a resistance close to but smaller than R4 at the balance condition. The
manufacturer of the thermistor [15] stipulated that the resistance of the thermistor is around
10 k at 25 C (298 K); thus the bridge resistors were chosen to be 10 k for balancing the
bridge at 25 C (298 K). Voltage and temperature measurements were monitored and recorded
for every 5 C (5 K) rise in the water temperature (from 25 C (298 K) up to 95 C (368 K))
as heating progressed.
3.2.1. Wheatstone bridge experimental circuit.

Figure 5 shows the Opamp bridge experimental

setup. Three of the resistors were 10 k as with the case of the Wheatstone bridge circuit. The
output was first monitored as the water heating experiment progressed without the parallel
resistor RP. A 10 k parallel resistor was placed in parallel with thermistor to attempt to
linearize the output and the water heating experiment was repeated using this resistor. The
experiment was also repeated with RP = 1 k. Voltage and temperature measurements were

3.2.2. Opamp bridge experimental circuit.

1140

A Mawire

Figure 4. Wheatstone bridge experimental circuit.

Figure 5. Opamp bridge experimental circuit.

monitored and recorded for every 5 C (5 K) rise in the temperature (from 25 C (298 K) up
to 95 C (368 K)) as the water heating experiment progressed in all three cases.
4. Results and discussion
4.1. Resistancetemperature results

The variation of the resistance with temperature during a water heating experiment is shown
in figure 6. The figure shows that resistance at the start of heating was 27.5 k at 273 K
(0 C) and it dropped exponentially to become less than 1 k when the temperature was 368 K
(95 C). An exponential decay fit of the experimental data is also shown in figure 6.
A plot of the variation of ln(R) with 1/T is shown in figure 7. The linear fit of the
experimental data is shown in figure 7 extrapolated through most of the measurement points,

A simple experiment to determine the characteristics of an NTC thermistor

1141

30

25

Experimental
-(T/23.9)
Exponential Decay Fit R=2.38e

Resistance (k)

20

15

10

0
260

280

300

320

340

360

380

Temperature (K)
Figure 6. Variation of the thermistor resistance with temperature during water heating.

10.5
10.0

Experimental
Linear Fit, ln(R)=-4.12+3940/T

9.5

ln(R/)

9.0
8.5
8.0
7.5
7.0
6.5
6.0
0.0026

0.0028

0.0030

0.0032

0.0034

0.0036

0.0038

-1

1/T(K )
Figure 7. Variation of ln(R) with 1/T for the thermistor.

implying that equation (2) is valid for this experiment. The experimental value of from the
linear fit is determined to be 3940 40 K. The experimental value of is in good agreement
with the manufacturers value of 4050 K [15] and the deviation is less than 3% between the
two values. This good agreement implies that relatively accurate results were obtained in the
laboratory with relatively low-cost equipment. The constant K in equation (2) which signifies
the value of the resistance at a very large temperature is determined to be 0.0162 . Using
equation (3), the energy gap of the thermistor can be estimated to be around 0.679 eV and this
is consistent with typical values of less than 1 eV reported in the literature [17].

1142

A Mawire
3.5
Ideal Linear Response, V=-11.7+0.0402T
Experimental
2
Poly Fit, V=-41.4+0.23T-0.000304T

3.0

2.5

VO(V)

2.0

1.5

1.0

0.5

0.0
290

300

310

320

330

340

350

360

370

380

Temperature(K)
Figure 8. Variation of the Wheatstone bridge output voltage with temperature.

4.2. Voltagetemperature results

4.2.1. Wheatstone bridge circuit results.

The sensitivity of the bridge in the linear region

can be defined as
V
,
(8)
T
where V is the change in the bridge output voltage and T is the change in the temperature.
Maximum nonlinearity as a percentage of the expected output linear span can be expressed as
(EO MO )MAX
dEMAX
NMAX =
100%,
(9)
100% =
EOMAX EOMIN
Span
where (EO MO )MAX = dEMAX is the maximum deviation between the expected linear
output behaviour and the measured output. EOMAX EOMIN is the expected linear span, i.e. the
difference between the expected maximum output and the expected minimum output voltages.
Experimental results of the Wheatstone bridge signal conditioning circuit are shown
in figure 8. The figure also shows a polynomial fit of the experimental results and the
expected linear function for determination of the sensitivity and the maximum nonlinearity as
a percentage of the expected linear output span. The output voltage is seen to be only linear
from about 298 K (25 C) to around 323 K (50 C) at a sensitivity of about 0.04 V K1.
Deviation from the expected linear response is evident from around 330 to 368 K; therefore
this particular setup cannot be used to infer temperature with voltage changes linearly in this
range. A second-order polynomial best describes the voltage variation with temperature from
298 to 368 K. The maximum nonlinearity as a percentage of the output is determined using
equation (9) to be around 31% obtained at 368 K.
S=

Figure 9 shows the Opamp bridge circuit results with

no parallel resistor. The figure shows a similar response experimentally to that of figure 8.
A second-order polynomial fit best describes the voltage variation with the temperature and
this circuit was only linear from 298 to 333 K. The sensitivity of the Opamp bridge circuit

4.2.2. Opamp bridge circuit results.

A simple experiment to determine the characteristics of an NTC thermistor

1143

3.4
3.2

Ideal Linear Response, V=-8.65+0.0321T

Experimental(RP=0 )

3.0

Poly Fit, V=38.0+0.219T-0.00297T

2.8
2.6
2.4

VO(V)

2.2
2.0
1.8
1.6
1.4
1.2
1.0
0.8
0.6
0.4
280

290

300

310

320

330

340

350

360

370

380

390

Temperature (K)
Figure 9. Variation of the Opamp bridge output voltage with temperature when RP = 0 .

3.0

Ideal Linear Response, V=-4.76+0.0206T

Experimental, RP=10 k

2.8

Poly Fit, V=-21.7+0.128T-0.000171T

2.6
2.4

VO

2.2
2.0
1.8
1.6
1.4
1.2
290

300

310

320

330

340

350

360

370

Temperature (K)
Figure 10. Variation of the Opamp bridge output voltage with temperature when RP = 10 k.

was around 0.03 V K1 and this is about 25% less than that of the Wheatstone bridge circuit.
Maximum nonlinearity as a percentage of the span is found to be around 36%. It can thus
be concluded that without a parallel resistor the performance of the Opamp bridge circuit is
inferior to that of the Wheatstone bridge circuit in terms of sensitivity and nonlinearity.
The parallel resistor has an effect of reducing the resistance such that the effective
resistance is reduced and the output tends to be more linear at the expense of reducing
the sensitivity to temperature variations. The experimental results with RP = 10 k are shown
in figure 10. Improved linearity in the temperature range of 298 to 333 K is evident from
figure 10 as compared to figure 9.

1144

A Mawire
2.46

Experimental (RP=1 k)
Linear Fit, V=1.77+0.00178T

2.44
2.42

VO(V)

2.40
2.38
2.36
2.34
2.32
2.30
290

300

310

320

330

340

350

360

370

380

Temperature (K)
Figure 11. Variation of the Opamp bridge output voltage with temperature when RP = 1 k.

The sensitivity depicted in figure 10 reduces to around 0.02 V K1, which is about 33%
less than that of figure 9 and 50% less than that of figure 8. Generally, the voltage variation
with temperature is also a second-order polynomial. Maximum nonlinearity is obtained at
the end of the experiment and this is quantified to be around 31%, comparable to that of the
Wheatstone bridge and smaller than that obtained when RP = 0 .
Experimental results for the Opamp bridge circuit when RP = 1 k are shown in figure 11.
The voltage variation with temperature is almost linear for the whole experimental range except
at the beginning of the experiment, where it is slightly nonlinear. This is because RP forces the
combined resistance of RP and the thermistor to be less than RP, forcing a less rapid variation
in the output voltage. The sensitivity of the circuit is however reduced drastically to be around
0.002 V K1, which is about 20 times less sensitive than the Wheatstone bridge circuit. The
percentage maximum nonlinearity is only 7% and this is far less than any other circuit. When
issues of linearity supersede the issues of sensitivity for this particular thermistor, the Opamp
bridge circuit with RP = 1 k should be used. On the other hand, when issues of output
sensitivity are of more importance than issues of linearity in a limited temperature range, the
Wheatstone bridge circuit should be implemented.
5. Conclusion

A simple low-cost experiment for undergraduate students to determine the characteristics of an

NTC thermistor has been presented. The experiment measured the resistancetemperature and
voltagetemperature characteristics of the thermistor. Results of the resistancetemperature
experiment obtained a value of 3940 K, which is close to the one of 4050 K specified by the
manufacturer of the thermistor. Two voltagetemperature measurement circuits were tested
experimentally. The Wheatstone bridge circuit produced a better sensitivity than the Opamp
bridge circuit. The best linearity was obtained with the Opamp bridge circuit with a parallel
resistor of RP = 1 k at the expense of reducing the sensitivity considerably. It was suggested
that when issues of sensitivity are of more importance than the linearity, the Wheatstone bridge
circuit should be implemented. On the other hand, when issues of linearity supersede issues

A simple experiment to determine the characteristics of an NTC thermistor

1145

of sensitivity, the Opamp bridge circuit with RP = 1 k should be implemented. The low
cost of the experimental setup makes it adaptable to universities with very limited resources,
especially in developing countries. The laboratory experiment can be implemented to teach
the physics as well as the measurement principles of the thermistor not only in applied physics,
but in other related fields such as electronics and mechanical engineering where knowledge
of instrumentation and measurement is required.
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[5]
[6]
[7]
[8]
[9]
[10]
[11]
[12]
[13]
[14]
[15]
[16]
[17]

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