Electrical Measurements & Instrumentation

Course Code: EEE 374

Lecture 01
Course Instructor: Dr. Hammad Omer (Tenured Associate Professor)
(PhD, MS, MCS, PGD (IT) B.Eng.)
Commonwealth Scholar (Imperial College London, United Kingdom)
Group Lead: Medical Image Processing Research Group
(www.miprg.comsats.edu.pk)
Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering
COMSATS University, Islamabad
Dated: 05/09/2024
Units, Dimensions & Standards

• Before standard systems of measurements, many approximate

units were used e.g. distance measured with number of days;
liquid measured by bucket etc.

• With the development of Science & Engineering, more

accurate units were devised e.g. Foot and Mile for measuring
distance, the pound for mass, gallon for liquid etc.

• With the increase in world trade and exchange of scientific

information between nations, it became important to establish
a single system of units of measurement that would be
acceptable internationally

• After several world conferences a ‘metric’ system was adopted

world wide; known as SI or International System
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SI Mechanical Units

• Fundamental Units:
• The three basic units in SI system are:
• Unit of length: the meter (m)
• Unit of mass: the kilogram(kg)
• Unit of Time: the second(s)

• Other units derived from Fundamental Units are called

‘Derived Units’ e.g. the unit of area is meters squared (m2),
which is derived from meters

• For example, kilogram is now defined as the mass of a certain

platinum-iridium standard bar kept at International Bureau of
Weights and Measures in France

• Similarly, the second is 1/(86,400) of a mean solar day etc.

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SI Mechanical Units

• Unit of Force:
• The SI unit of Force is the newton (N), defined as that force
which will give a mass of 1kilogram an acceleration of 1
meter per second per second

• When a body is to be accelerated or decelerated, a force

must be applied proportional to the desired rate of change
of velocity i.e. proportional to the acceleration/deceleration:
𝐹𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒 = 𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑥 𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 (𝐹 = 𝑚𝑎)

• When the mass is in kilograms and the acceleration is in

m/s2, the foregoing equation gives the force in newtons

• In SI units: 𝑔 = 9.81𝑚/𝑠 2 . E.g. a mass of 1kg has a

gravitational force of 9.81N
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•
SI Mechanical Units

• Unit of Work:

• The work done in moving a body is the product of the force

and distance through which the body is moved in the
direction of the force:
• 𝑊𝑜𝑟𝑘 = 𝐹𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒 𝑥 𝐷𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑊 = 𝐹𝑑
• The SI unit of work is Joule (J), defined as the amount of
work done when a force of 1 newton acts through a
distance of 1 meter
• Joule may also be defined as newton-meter

• Unit of Energy:

• Energy is defined as the capacity for doing work

• Energy is also measured in Joules (J)
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SI Mechanical Units

• Unit of Power:

• Power is the time rate of doing work:

𝑊𝑜𝑟𝑘 𝑊
• 𝑃𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 = 𝑜𝑟 𝑃 =
𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑡
• The SI unit of Power is Watt (W) defined as the power
developed when 1 joule of work is done in 1 second
• P is in watts when W is in joules and t is in seconds

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Scientific Notation & Metric Prefixes

• Scientific Notation:
• Very large or very small numbers are conveniently written
as:

• Note that in SI, spaces are used instead of commas

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Scientific Notation & Metric Prefixes

• Metric Prefixes:
• Metric prefixes are used to write very large or very small
quantities, as given in Table 1-1

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Scientific Notation & Metric Prefixes

• Engineering Notation:

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SI Electrical Units

• Units of Current and Charge:

• Electric Current (I) is the flow of charge carriers. Therefore,

current could be defined in terms of the quantity of
electricity (Q) that passes a given point in a conductor
during 1 second

• The coulomb (C) is the unit of electrical charge or quantity

of electricity.

• C was originally selected as the fundamental electrical unit

from which all other units were derived. However, since it is
easier to measure current accurately than charge, the unit
of current is now the fundamental electrical unit in SI
system
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SI Electrical Units

• Units of Current and Charge:

• The ampere (A) is the unit of electric current

• The ampere is defined as that constant current which,

when flowing in each of the two infinitely long parallel
conductors 1 meter apart, exerts a force of 2x10-7 newton
per meter of length on each conductor

• The coulomb is defined as that charge which passes a

given point in a conductor each second, when a current of
1 ampere flows

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SI Electrical Units

• Units of Current and Charge:

• These definitions show that the coulomb could be termed

as ampere-second. Conversely, the ampere is defined as a
𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑜𝑚𝑏𝑠
coulomb per second: 𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑠 =
𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑠

• It has been established experimentally that 1 coulomb is

equal to the total charge carried by 6.24x1018 electrons.
Therefore, the charge carried by one electron is:
1 −19
𝑄= 18 = 1.602𝑥10 𝐶
6.24𝑥10

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SI Electrical Units
• EMF, Potential Difference and Voltage:

• The Volt is the unit of electromotive force (emf) and potential

difference

• The volt (V) is defined as the potential difference between two

points on a conductor carrying a constant current of 1 ampere
when the power dissipated between these points is 1 watt

• If only one electron is moved through 1V, the energy involved

is an electron volt (eV) [please note that the charge carried by
one electron defined earlier]:
1
1𝑒𝑣 = 18
𝐽
6.24𝑥10
• The electron volt is frequently used for very small energy levels
associated with electrons in orbits around the nucleus
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SI Electrical Units
• Resistance & Conductance:
• The Ohm is defined as that resistance which permits a current
flow of 1 ampere when a potential difference of 1 volt is applied
to the resistance
• The term Conductance is applied to the reciprocal of
resistance. The siemens (S) is the unit of conductance:
1
• 𝐶𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 =
𝑅𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒
• Magnetic Flux and Flux Density
• The weber (Wb) is the SI unit of magnetic flux
• The weber is defined as the magnetic flux which, linking a
single-turn coil, produces an emf of 1V when the flux is
reduced to zero at a constant rate in 1s
• The tesla (T) is the SI unit of magnetic flux density
• The tesla is the flux density in a magnetic field when 1 weber
of flux occurs in a plane of 1 square meter; i.e. 1Wb/m2
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SI Electrical Units
• Inductance:

• The SI unit of inductance is the henry (H)

• The inductance of a circuit is 1 henry, when an emf of 1 volt is
induced by the current changing at the rate of 1A/s

• Capacitance

• The farad (F) is the SI unit of capacitance

• The farad is the capacitance of a capacitor that contains a
charge of 1 coulomb when the potential difference between its
terminals is 1 volt

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SI Temperature Scales

• There are two SI temperature scales, the Celsius scale and the
Kelvin scale
• The Celsius scale has 100 equal divisions (or degrees)
between the freezing temperature and the boiling temperature
of water (i.e. 0Co and 100Co)
• The Kelvin temperature scale, also known as absolute scale,
commences at absolute zero (-273Co) to 373.15K (100Co)
• A temperature difference of 1K is the same as a temperature
difference of 1Co

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 Other Unit Systems
• Traditionally, the fundamental mechanical units are the foot for
length, the pound for mass, and the second for time

• Other mechanical units derived from these are similar in both

systems, with the exception of the units for liquid measure. The
Imperial gallon equals approximately 1.2 US gallons

• Before the SI system was adopted, CGS system using the

centimeter, gram and second as fundamental mechanical units
were employed for scientific purposes

• Many CGS units were too small or too large for practical
engineering applications

• When solving problems, it is sometimes necessary to convert from

the traditional unit systems to SI units. Appendix-1 provides a list
of conversion factors 17
Unit Conversion Factors (1/4)

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Unit Conversion Factors(2/4)

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Unit Conversion Factors (3/4)

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Unit Conversion Factors(4/4)

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Example 1

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Example 2

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Dimensions
• Table 1.2 gives a list of quantities, quantity symbols, units, unit
symbols and quantity dimensions

• The symbols and units are those approved for use with the SI
system

• Consider the fact that the area of a rectangle is determined by:

length x length

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Table 1.2

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Dimensions

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Example

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Standards
• Working Standards:
• Electrical measurement standards are precise resistors,
capacitors, inductors, voltage sources and current sources,
which can be used for comparison purposes when
measuring electrical quantities e.g. resistance can be
measured by means of a Wheatstone bridge which uses a
standard resistor
• The standard resistors, capacitors and inductors usually
found in an electronics laboratory are called working
standards
• Working standards are normally constructed of manganin
or a similar material, which has a very low temperature
coefficient.
• Similarly, standard capacitor might be air dielectric type, or
might be constructed on silvered mica etc

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Standards
• Standard Classifications:
• Measurement standards are classified in four levels:
international standards, primary standards, secondary
standards and working standards
• International standards are defined by international
agreements, and are maintained at the International
Bureau of Weights and Measures in France. These are as
accurate as scientifically possible to achieve
• Primary standards are maintained at institutions in various
countries around the world e.g. National Bureau of
Standards in Washington
• Secondary standards are employed in industry as
references for calibrating high accuracy equipment and
components, and for verifying the accuracy of working
standards. Secondary, standards are periodically checked
at the institutions that maintain primary standards
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Standards
• Standard Classifications:
• In summary, working standards are used as measurement
references on a day-to-day basis in virtually all electronic
laboratories

• Secondary standards are more accurate than working

standards, and are used in industry for checking working
standards, and for calibrating high-accuracy equipment

• Primary standards are more accurate than secondary

standards, and maintained to highest possible accuracy

• International standards are maintained by international

agreement and may be used for checking primary
standards

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Standards

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