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Ballistic Galvanometer

Ballistic Galvanometer (BG) is a special type of galvanometer used to measure the quantity of charge
passing through any cross section of a circuit due to a transient current or transient voltage (short
pulse of current or voltage). The transient current imparts some momentum to the coil and the
effect of this momentum is measured in the form of deflection in the coil. Since the duration of this
transient current is very small, ballistic galvanometers are specially designed to have appropriate
sensitivity to these transient currents. To improve the sensitivity to transient currents, ballistic
galvanometer are made in such a way that; the time period T of its moving part kept fairly large and,
the damping of the moving part is made as small as possible.

The ballistic Galvanometers that are commonly used in the laboratories are moving coil type which
means coil is free to spin along the axis of suspension. The time period T of the coil is given by

𝐼
𝑇 = 2𝜋 √
𝐶

Where I is the moment of inertia of the coil and C is the restoring couple for the unit angular
displacement. To make the time period (T) large, the moment of inertia I is made large and a delicate
suspension of small torque per unit twist C is used. The damping of the moving part is minimized by
minimizing the air resistance and electromagnetic effect. The air damping is made negligible by
enclosing the coil in a box and electromagnetic damping is reduced by winding the coil on a non-
conducting frame such as wood, ivory etc.

Theory

A BG can be operated in two ways, either it can be used to measure a small value of steady state
current or it can also be used to measure amount of charge associated with a transient current
(short pulse of current).

Current Sensitivity

The current sensitivity of ballistic galvanometer is defined as the current in micro-amperes


which when flowing through the galvanometer will produce a deflection of one mm in the position of
the spot on the scale placed at a distance of one meter from the galvanometer mirror.

is = I/θ

Where is is current sensitivity, I is the amount of current flowing and θ is the corresponding deflection
of spot in mm

When a very small amount of steady state current is passed through the coil of BG, it gives a
constant deflection to coil which depends on quantity of current flowing through it. For a steady
current I the restoring torque and the driving torque are related by:

NABI = Cθ
Here θ is the angular deflection from the stationary state, B is the magnetic field in which the coil is
suspended, A is the area of the coil, N is the number of turns, I is the current, and C is the moment or
restoring couple per unit twist of the galvanometer.

Thus we can write

𝐶
𝐼= 𝜗 = 𝑘𝜗
𝑁𝐴𝐵

Where k = C/NAB

is = I/θ

is or k is called current sensitivity and its value is generally determined indirectly by the experiment
because direct and accurate measurement of the restoring couple (C) and magnetic field (B) is
technically not easy. From the knowledge of current I and corresponding deflection θ, the current
sensitivity is can easily be found. Current sensitivity when measured in amperes per mm is also
known as figure of merit of the B.G.

Charge Sensitivity

Charge sensitivity or Quantity sensitivity of the ballistic galvanometer is defined as the


charge in micro-coulombs which when sent through the coil will produce a deflection of 1 mm of the
spot on the scale placed at a distance of 1 meter from the galvanometer mirror.

Qs = Q/ θo

Where Qs is charge sensitivity, Q is the amount of charge passed by the transient current and θ is the
corresponding deflection of spot in mm

When a charge Q, or a current impulse (current I flowing for a time ∆t) passes through the
galvanometer, it results in a momentary torque due the Lorentz force on the coil. Under the
influence of this Lorentz force, the coil acquires some angular momentum (and as a result some
kinetic energy due to gain in momentum) and gets deflected which is represented by some
maximum deflection θo. During this process of deflection to the point of maximum swing θo , the
kinetic energy converts into potential energy and gets physically stored in the form of twist in the
torsional spring. If damping is absent, then this kinetic energy gained by the coil due to current
impulse will be equal to its potential energy at the position of maximum deflection. This is the clue
to working of ballistic galvanometer. In the next section we will use this energy conservation concept
to determine the maximum angular throw of the coil θo (which is proportional to the quantity of
charge passed through it) when a transient current I is allowed to pass through the coil for a short
duration of time ∆t.

The angular impulse is this case is NABI∆t, this angular impulse is equal to change in angular
momentum which is

𝑁𝐴𝐵𝐼∆𝑡 = 𝐽𝜔 − 𝐽𝜔𝑜
Where J is the moment of inertia of the coil

The gain in angular velocity ∆ω (which is equal to ∆ω =ω- ωo) is given by NABI∆t /J, since initially coil
was at rest so ωo will be equal to zero.

𝑁𝐴𝐵𝐼∆𝑡
𝜔=
𝐽

from which we get Q = J ω /NAB, where 𝑄 = 𝐼∆𝑡 . The kinetic energy possessed by coil due to this
angular velocity ω is given by Jω2/2, and the torsional potential energy stored in the spring for a
deflection θo is equal to C θ2 /2

Equating the kinetic energy and potential energy, we get an expression for Q given by

𝐶 𝑇
𝑄= 𝜗 = 𝐾𝜗𝑜
𝑁𝐴𝐵 2𝜋 𝑜

Qs = Q/ θo = K

Qs or K is called charge sensitivity or ballistic constant. The charge passing through the galvanometer
can thus be determined by measuring the period of oscillation and the throw if galvanometer
constant k is known.

It is also obvious that charge sensitivity Qs and current sensitivity is are related by following relation

𝑇
𝑄𝑠 = 𝑖
2𝜋 𝑠

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