EXPERIMENT – 2

Aim: To determine the resistance per unit length of a Carey-Foster Bridge wire and hence
determine the resistivity of a wire sample provided.

Apparatus: Carey-Foster bridge, Leclanché cell or low voltage power source, two resistance
boxes, standard 1 Ω resistance, wire sample (the resistance of which is to be determined), copper
strip (to serve as a zero-ohm resistance), dc galvanometer, jockey, connecting wires

Principle: The Carey-Foster bridge is a modified form of a meter bridge wherein we have two gaps
on either side instead of one. So, in all there are four gaps.

The basic idea behind the use of Carey-Foster bridge is to avoid or nullify the effect of the
difference in end resistances that exist between the two sides of a meter-bridge. Usually, this
small difference in resistance is immaterial provided the resistance to be determined is of several
ohms. However, it becomes extremely relevant and important that the effect of end resistances
be nullified when the resistance to be determined is small (usually a couple of ohms)

In order to achieve this, we employ a method in which we use two additional resistances 1 Ω and 0 Ω,
who’s sides are swapped during the course of the experiment.

We wire a circuit as shown in the following diagram.

𝑃 𝑄

𝑋 G 𝑌

Fig-1. Circuit diagram of a Carey Foster bridge for the determination of low resistance.

For this arrangement we write the balanced Wheatstone’s bridge relation assuming resistance 𝑋
to be in the left gap and 𝑌 in the right,
𝑃 𝑋 + 𝜎(𝑙1 + 𝛼)
= (1)
𝑄 𝑌 + 𝜎(100 − 𝑙1 + 𝛽)
where,
𝛼 – is the end resistance on one side of the bridge (left-side, say) and
𝛽 – is the end resistance on the other side of the bridge (right-side)
Here, 𝜎 is not conductivity, its rather the resistance per unit length of the Carey Foster bridge
wire and its unit is Ω 𝑐𝑚−1.
Again, we write the balanced Wheatstone’s bridge relation for the two resistances 𝑋 and 𝑌 are
swapped i.e., resistance 𝑌 is in the left gap and 𝑋 in the right, this time.
𝑃 𝑌 + 𝜎(𝑙2 + 𝛼)
= (2)
𝑄 𝑋 + 𝜎(100 − 𝑙2 + 𝛽)
Adding one to both sides of the above two equations in order to make the right-hand side
numerators of the two equations equal, we get,
 𝑃 𝑋 + 𝑌 + 𝜎(100 + 𝛼 + 𝛽)
+1= (3)
𝑄 𝑌 + 𝜎(100 − 𝑙1 + 𝛽)

𝑃 𝑌 + 𝑋 + 𝜎(100 + 𝛼 + 𝛽)
+1= (4)
𝑄 𝑋 + 𝜎(100 − 𝑙2 + 𝛽)

Equating right hand sides of (3) and (4),

𝑋 + 𝑌 + 𝜎(100 + 𝛼 + 𝛽) 𝑌 + 𝑋 + 𝜎(100 + 𝛼 + 𝛽)
= (5)
𝑌 + 𝜎(100 − 𝑙1 + 𝛽) 𝑋 + 𝜎(100 − 𝑙2 + 𝛽)

Here it’s easy to see that the numerators cancel out and hence the denominators must be equal.

Equating the denominators we get,

𝑋 − 𝑌 = 𝜎(𝑙2 − 𝑙1 ) (6)

For the first part of the experiment, we must use a standard 1 Ω resistance in place of 𝑋 and a
copper strip of 0 Ω resistance in place of 𝑌.

Then the above equation becomes

1 − 0 = 𝜎(𝑙2 − 𝑙1 ) (7)

and the resistance per unit length may be calculated as follows:

1
𝜎= Ω 𝑐𝑚−1 (8)
(𝑙2 − 𝑙1 )

Once we know the resistance per unit length of the Carey Foster bridge wire, we may proceed for
the second part of the experiment wherein a sample wire the resistance of which is to be
determined is used in place of 𝑋. Once again, a copper strip of 0 Ω resistance is used in place of
𝑌. The entire process is repeated once again to get the value 𝑅 of the sample wire using the
following relation.

𝑅 = 𝜎(𝑙2′ − 𝑙1′ ) (9)

This time the balancing lengths are 𝑙1′ and 𝑙2′ that are necessarily different from 𝑙1 and 𝑙2

After getting the value of 𝑅 using the above process, we may measure the length and cross-
sectional area of the wire we are experimenting with and its resistivity may be easily determined
using the relation,

𝑅𝐴 𝑅𝜋𝑟 2
𝜌= = (10)
𝑙 𝑙

Procedure and Precautions:

1. Wire the circuit as shown in the diagram keeping 𝑃 ≈ 𝑄 ≈ 5 Ω, the standard 1 Ω resistor
in the left gap and the 0 Ω copper strip in the right. While doing so ensure that you connect
all the wires on a particular strip at the same place on a single binding post. Do not rely
on the metal strip for good connections as with efflux of time it might have gotten oxidized.
2. Connect a rheostat in case you are using a power supply instead of a Leclanché cell and
adjust it to restrict the total current well below 100 mA, preferably 10 mA.
 3. Record the balancing length in the column for 𝑙1 .
4. Swap the two resistors 1 Ω and 0 Ω. Get a balance point and record it in the column for 𝑙2 .
5. We record both the lengths 𝑙1 and 𝑙2 from the same end of the bridge.
6. For one set of data the ratio of 𝑃 and 𝑄 must be held constant.
7. We may choose to alter the values of 𝑃 and 𝑄 for the next set of data. However, this is not
necessary.
8. After grabbing at least five sets of data, we may take the average to obtain the value of
resistance per unit length of the CF bridge wire. First part of the experiment is over and
the value of resistance per unit length obtained will be utilized in the next part of the
experiment.
9. In the second part of the experiment, we again keep 𝑃 ≈ 𝑄 ≈ 5 Ω, and this time we use a
resistor of unknown resistance 𝑅 in place of 𝑋 and a copper strip of 0 Ω resistance in place
of 𝑌. Proceeding in the same way we record the balancing length of wire as 𝑙1′ . Then swap
the two resistors and record 𝑙2′ .
10. Once again, both the lengths 𝑙1′ and 𝑙2′ are recorded from the same end of the bridge,
holding the ratio of 𝑃 and 𝑄 the same.
11. Again, taking at least five sets of data, we may take the average to obtain the value of
resistance of the wire sample of unknown resistance.
12. Measuring the length of the wire sample using a scale and its diameter using a screw
𝜋𝑟 2 𝑅
gauge, we may get its resistivity using the relation 𝜌 = 𝑙
.
13. We compare the resistivity from its standard value and report the result along with the
standard error and percent error.

Observations:

Table-1: Readings for balancing lengths of CF bridge wire for determination of its resistance per
unit length

S.No. 𝑃≈𝑄 Position of (𝑙2 − 𝑙1 ) 1 (𝜎𝑖 − 𝜎̅)2

𝜎=
balance point (𝑙2 − 𝑙1 )

𝑙1 𝑙1

Ω 𝑐𝑚 𝑐𝑚 𝑐𝑚 Ω 𝑐𝑚−1

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

∑𝑛𝑖=1 𝜎𝑖 𝑛

𝑛 ∑(𝜎𝑖 − 𝜎̅)2
𝑖=1
Table-2: Readings for balancing lengths of CF bridge wire for determination of resistance of a
given wire.

S.No. 𝑃≈𝑄 Position of balance point (𝑙2′ − 𝑙1′ ) 𝑅 = 𝜎 (𝑙2′ − 𝑙1′ ) (𝑅𝑖 − 𝑅̅ )2

𝑙1′ 𝑙2′

Ω 𝑐𝑚 𝑐𝑚 𝑐𝑚 Ω

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

∑𝑛𝑖=1 𝑅𝑖 𝑛

𝑛 ∑(𝑅𝑖 − 𝑅̅ )2
𝑖=1

Calculation:
∑𝑛𝑖=1 𝜎𝑖
𝐴𝑣𝑔 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡 𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ, 𝜎 =
𝑛

∑𝑛 (𝜎𝑖 − 𝜎̅)2
𝑆𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑒𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑟 𝑖𝑛 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡 𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ, 𝜎 = √ 𝑖=1
𝑛(𝑛 − 1)

∑𝑛𝑖=1 𝑅𝑖
𝐴𝑣𝑔 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒, 𝑅 =
𝑛

∑𝑛 (𝑅𝑖 − 𝑅̅ )2
𝑆𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑒𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑟 𝑖𝑛 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒, 𝑅 = √ 𝑖=1
𝑛(𝑛 − 1)

Results and discussion:

The value of resistivity is 𝜌 = ( __________ ± __________) Ω𝑚

and the percentage error in the determination is

|𝜌𝑠𝑡𝑑 − 𝜌|
% 𝑒𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑟 = × 100 %
𝜌𝑠𝑡𝑑
The results obtained by the method is accurate to ____ % and the data has a fair degree of
precision. This is an elegant method of determining resistances that are relatively quite low.