Try it on paper first. A hint, the key idea and the worked solution are here when you need them.
A moving-coil galvanometer has a rectangular coil of turns, wide and high. The coil turns in the gap between curved pole pieces and a soft iron core, where the field is radial and has a size of , as in the figure. A spring of torsion constant holds it. The coil has a resistance of . Its scale has divisions, each of turn of the coil.
Have you tried it?
Work it out on paper first. It is fine to get stuck or make a mistake: that is how we learn. When you are ready, go through the solution one step at a time, and check each step against your own.
Plan. The radial field makes the deflection grow in step with the current. The shunt and the series resistance follow from the full-scale current. Then treat the voltmeter as one more resistor in the circuit.
Step 1. Sensitivity (a). . So per mA, which is divisions per mA.
Step 2. Full scale (b). divisions need .
Step 3. Shunt (c). At full scale the coil takes and the shunt the rest, at the same voltage: .
Step 4. Series resistance (d). The whole voltmeter must have , so the series part is .
Step 5. The reading (e). The voltmeter and the resistor in parallel make . In series with the other :
Step 6. Twice the turns (f). The current sensitivity doubles. The voltage sensitivity is the current sensitivity divided by the resistance, and the resistance doubles too. So the factor is : no gain at all.
Answer: (a) divisions per mA. (b) . (c) . (d) . (e) . (f) .
Watch out. Without the voltmeter, the voltage across each resistor is . The meter reads less because it draws current: its resistance is not large compared with .
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