Electrical Ground and AC Circuits

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Electrical Ground and AC Circuits

Electrostatic potential (voltage) like distance must always be measured from a reference point. The most frequently used
reference point is the Earth or more specifically the ground that your building is embedded in. This reference potential is
declared to be zero volts and is commonly referred to as Ground. Electrical equipment connected to ground is said to be
grounded or earthed. Part of the electrical wiring of every building is a wire that is connected to a large metal rod driven deep
into the ground thereby ensuring a good connection to ground. The bottom hole on electrical wall outlets is connected to the
building ground wire. The long prong on the plug of an electrical device therefore connects the device to ground.
Proper grounding is vital for making electrical equipment safe to use. Consider an ungrounded electrical device sitting on a
wooden table. The table is an insulator. Assume the device is damaged so that charge starts to build on the frame of the device.
People are conductors (albeit very poor ones) and are roughly at earth potential because they are in contact with floors, walls,
etc. and seldom build up any significant amount of charge. A person touching the device, or even approaching closely, provides
a path for the accumulated charge to flow because of the potential difference between the device and the person. Large enough
voltages and currents can burn and kill. As well, if there is flammable dust or gas nearby, even a small spark could start a fire
or an explosion. Properly grounded devices would be at the same potential as the surroundings and there would be no sparks
or undesired currents.
All equipment used in the lab that is connected to mains power is grounded. On most equipment the BLACK terminal denotes
ground while the RED terminal is the "live" contact. [House wiring uses different colour codes!] The symbol
indicate ground.

is used to

Grounded Circuits and Voltage Measurements

It is a regrettable fact that most circuit diagrams that you will encounter do not indicate the ground. Figure 1 is a typical
example. It would be more informative to have it drawn as in Figure 2.

When using Voltmeters, Ammeters, and DMMs the omission of the ground is not a problem as these devices are not themselves
grounded. As shown in Figure 3, two AC voltmeters will give the accurate values of the voltage drop over each resistor.

Oscilloscopes on the other hand are already grounded since they are connected to mains power. One probe on each channel is
already at ground. The grounded probe must always be connected to the ground location or to any lead wire that is directly
connected to the circuit ground.

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Electrical Ground and AC Circuits

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There are only two ways to connect a single channel of the oscilloscope to the circuit we have been considering. These are
shown in Figures 4 and 5. In Figure 4 the scope will display V 2. In Figure 5 the scope will display V1 + V2 which is the same as
the power supply potential V.

In fact since the ground probe is already at ground not plugging it into the circuit will have no effect on the potential displayed. Try
it and see!
Suppose we are careless about the ground probe and connect it to the circuit as shown in Figure 6. What we will we see
displayed on the scope?

The answer is that the ground and the ground probe are both at zero potential. With no potential difference between these two
points, no current will flow through resistor R2. Resistor R2 has been short- circuited. Hence V2' is zero and all the voltage drop
over R1, V1', equals the power supply voltage V. It is as if an invisible resistanceless wire has ben connected between the two
points as shown in Figure 7.

Figure 8 shows another circuit with the oscilloscope misconnected. What would be the reading here? The answer is printed at
the bottom of this document.

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One of the most common mistakes that a novice user of an oscilloscope can make is to accidently short circuit part of the circuit
they are investigating. Always know where the circuit ground point is located! Always know which probe is the ground probe!
How to find the correct V1 using an Oscilloscope
It might seem from the preceding discussion that we could never use an oscilloscope to measure V 1, the voltage drop over R1,
by itself. However scopes have many more feature than discussed so far. First an oscilloscope has two separate channels so
that it can display two voltages at one. In Figure 9, both sets of probes have been correctly connected to the circuit. Channel 1
will display V = V1 + V2 while channel 2 will display V2. Note that the CHOP or ALT buttons allows both signals to be displayed
at the same time. Channel 2 also has an INVERT button. Pull this button and Channel 2 now displays V 2. If you now press the
ADD or SUM button, the oscilloscope adds the two signals together and displays only the sum. That is we will see V sum = V1 + V2
+ V2 = V1. This is a trick which we will use often in the lab.

Answer:

We are trying to read the voltage over R2, but R2 has been short-circuited. The scope will read zero.

Questions?mike.coombes@kwantlen.ca

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