Question

For the Wheatstone bridge, R₁ is the resistive sensor a. If R₁ is at 8 k2, what is the output of the Wheatstone bridge IVout)? b. If Vout is 315 rnV, what is the value of R1? c. Using the answer from part b, what resistor should be changed to make Vout = 0V? What value should the resistor be changed to?

Answer 1

In a Wheatstone bridge, if R1 is 8kΩ and other resistors are balanced, Vout will be 0V. To find R1 based on a Vout of 315mV, additional information is required. To make Vout 0V, one must adjust R2 or R3, depending on other resistor values.

Step-by-step explanation:

The Wheatstone bridge is an electrical circuit used to measure an unknown electrical resistance by balancing two legs of a bridge circuit.

The standard equation for a Wheatstone bridge is Rx/R1 = R2/R3, where Rx is the unknown resistor and R1, R2, and R3 are known resistors.

To address the student's questions:

1. If R1 is at 8kΩ and the bridge is balanced, then Vout will be 0V because there is no difference in voltage between the two midpoints of the bridge.
2. If Vout is 315mV, to determine the value of R1, additional circuit details like supply voltage or the values of the other resistors are needed. Without that information, the value of R1 cannot be determined.
3. To make Vout= 0V, it would be necessary to adjust either R2 or R3 to balance the bridge. The specific resistor and its new value would depend on the values of the other resistors in the circuit.