What is Potentiometer (Pots)? Potentiometer Transducers or Sensors.

2/17/2015

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What is Potentiometer? Potentiometer Used as the

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written by: Haresh Khemani edited by: Lamar Stonecypher updated: 9/1/2009
Potentiometer is one of most commonly used devise for measurement of the displacement of the body. This article
describes what potentiometer is and how it can be used as the transducer.

Principle of Working of Potentiometers

The potentiometer is also called as pots and it one of
the most commonly used devise for measuring the
displacement of the body. The potentiometer is the
electrical type of transducer or sensor and it is of
resistive type because it works on the principle of
change of resistance of the wire with its length. The
resistance of the wire is directly proportional to the
length of the wire, thus as the length of the wire
changes the resistance of the wire also changes.

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What is Potentiometer?
The potentiometer is an electric circuit in which the
resistance can be changed manually by the sliding
contacts. The typical potentiometer is shown in the
figure below. Here the voltage Vs is applied across the
two points of the wire A and B. C is the variable contact
point between A and B and its position can be changed
by the sliding contact. The voltage Vo is measured
between the points A and C.

As per the resistance law of the conductor, the

resistance of the conductor AC changes as the length
of the wire AC changes. Accordingly the output voltage
Vo between A and C also changes. The point C is the
slider whose position is changed by the operator or by
the motion of the body whose displacement is to be
measured. The relationship between the length of the conductors and the voltage across them can be expressed
as:
Vo/Vs = AC/AB

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How Potentiometer is used as the Transducer

There are number of applications of the potentiometer or pots, of these one of the most common applications is the
measurement of displacement. To measure the displacement of the body, this body, which is moving, is connected
to the sliding element of the potentiometer.
As the body moves, the position of the slider located on the potentiometer also changes so the resistance between
the fixed point and the slider changes. Due to this the voltage Vo across these points also changes. The change in
voltage or the resistance is proportional to the change in the displacement of the body. Thus the voltage change
indicates the displacement of the body. The potentiometer can be used for the measurement of translational as
well as well rotational displacement. Since these potentiometers work on the principle of resistance, they are also
called as the resistive potentiometers.

Important Performance Parameters of the Potentiometers

1) Potentiometer resolution: Though the resistance of the conductor is proportional to its length, when the slider
moves over the wire the change in the resistance is not continuous function of the contact movement. The smallest
increment of the slider that can be recorded across the whole length of the potentiometer is called as the resolution.
If resistance winding is used in the potentiometer, its limiting resolution is measured as the reciprocal of the
number of turns of the coil. The lower the length that can be recorded higher is the resolution of the potentiometer.
2) Potentiometer linearity: Ideally the resistance measured between the fixed point and the slider point is linear
function of the contractor position relative to that end. In actual cases the change in resistance and the distance
between the fixed and the moving point is never linear. The maximum allowable deviation between change in
resistance and the linear position of the slider is called as the linearity tolerance.

Reference
1) Book: Mechanical Measurements by Thomas G. Beckwith and N. Lewis Buck
2) Book: Measurement and Instrumentation Principles by Alan S Morris.

Image Courtesy
1) Book: Measurement and Instrumentation Principles by Alan S Morris.

WHAT IS POTENTIOMETER?
This is the series of articles that describes what is potentiometer, also called as pots, its types and it can be used
as the transducer.

What is Potentiometer? Potentiometer Used as the Transducer or Sensor

Types of Potentiometers

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