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a device designed to measure small electric currents; the simplest electric meter
A galvanometer is an instrument for detecting and measuring small electric currents.

Or use this long answer: galvanometer , instrument used to determine the presence, direction, and strength of an electric current in a conductor. All galvanometers are based upon the discovery by Hans C. Oersted that a magnetic needle is deflected by the presence of an electric current in a nearby conductor. When an electric current is passing through the conductor, the magnetic needle tends to turn at right angles to the conductor so that its direction is parallel to the lines of induction around the conductor and its north pole points in the direction in which these lines of induction flow. In general, the extent to which the needle turns is dependent upon the strength of the current. In the first galvanometers, a freely turning magnetic needle was hung in a coil of wire; in later versions the magnet was fixed and the coil made movable. Modern galvanometers are of this movable-coil type and are called d'Arsonval galvanometers (after Arsène d'Arsonval, a French physicist). If a pointer is attached to the moving coil so that it passes over a suitably calibrated scale, the galvanometer can be used to measure quantitatively the current passing through it. Such calibrated galvanometers are used in many electrical measuring devices. The DC ammeter , an instrument for measuring direct current, often consists of a calibrated galvanometer through which the current to be measured is made to pass. Since heavy currents would damage the galvanometer, a bypass, or shunt, is provided so that only a certain known percentage of the current passes through the galvanometer. By measuring the known percentage of the current, one arrives at the total current. The DC voltmeter , which can measure direct voltage, consists of a calibrated galvanometer connected in series with a high resistance. To measure the voltage between two points, one connects the voltmeter between them. The current through the galvanometer (and hence the pointer reading) is then proportional to the voltage.

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Related Questions

What is the difference between the construction of a moving coil galvanometer and a ballistic galvanometer?

What is the difference between the construction of a moving coil galvanometer and a ballistic galvanometer?


What is a NULL Point of a galvanometer?

Its a point on the galvanometer where the galvanometer shows no deflection as no current passes through it.


Does a galvanometer have a reversed current or not?

The current is reversed in a galvanometer


What is galvanometer constant and how to find it?

The galvanometer constant is the factor that relates the deflection of a galvanometer to the current passing through it. It is usually given as the current required to produce a unit deflection (such as one full-scale deflection) on the galvanometer. To find the galvanometer constant, you can pass a known current through the galvanometer and measure the corresponding deflection, then calculate the constant as the current divided by the deflection.


Why do you need to set a galvanometer to 0?

Zero is the normal position of the galvanometer when there is no detection in process.


Which circumstances would a current register on the galvanometer?

A current would register on a galvanometer when there is a flow of electric charge through the circuit that the galvanometer is connected to. The galvanometer measures the strength and direction of the current passing through it, displaying this information as a deflection on its dial.


Does galvanometer have polarity?

No, a galvanometer does not have polarity. It is a device used to detect and measure small electric currents. The deflection of the needle in a galvanometer indicates the presence and direction of the current but not the polarity.


How you convert galvanometer into ammeter in detail?

By attaching a resistance in parallel connection with the galvanometer. Or when a low resistor connected in parallel with galvanometer ,the galvanometer is converted in ammeter. and the resistor is called shunt resistance.


Why galvanometer are used in electronic instruments that measures low current and voltage?

The galvanometer is very sensitive.


How do you convert galvanometer to ohmmeter?

Ohms are the unit of measurement for resistance, so an ohmmeter is a device that measures electrical resistance. A galvanometer measures the current flowing through the resistance, so the two are related. To convert a galvanometer into an ohmmeter, one needs an external battery.


How can you convert galvanometer into ammeter?

Since Galvanometer is a very sensitive instrument therefore it can't measure heavy currents. In order to convert a Galvanometer into an Ammeter, a very low resistance known as "shunt" resistance is connected in parallel to Galvanometer. Value of shunt is so adjusted that most of the current passes through the shunt. In this way a Galvanometer is converted into Ammeter and can measure heavy currents without fully deflected.


What is galvalometer?

i think this is galvanometer so galvanometer is a device which detect the current as well as it measure small amount of current