Deby Irawan

Teknik Elektro

21901053007

How to Connect an Ammeter (Amperemeter)

To measure electrical current through a wire, the ammeter is used. You can use it
to measure very small electrical currents or very large ones. However, if you are a
beginner, only use it to measure small currents. Large electrical currents can be
dangerous.

Connecting an ammeter to measure current only takes a few minutes or less.

However, sometimes people get confused and think it’s too simple. For example,
they might just attach the two probes to the wire. The key to connecting an
ammeter correctly is remembering that the connection is such that current will flow
through the ammeter, as if it was a wire.

Set the current type switch. Ammeters can be used to measure direct current or
alternating current, also known as DC or AC current. If your circuit is a battery, the
current will be direct current. If you power your circuit with a power supply, the type
of current will depend on your power supply. There are DC and AC power supplies
as well as power supplies that let you select DC or AC voltage. So if your power
supply is set to AC, set the ammeter to AC. If it is a DC power supply, set the
ammeter to DC.

Examine the ammeter-calibrated scale. When current flows through an ammeter,

the needle on the meter will move across the calibrated scale. The marking on the
scale that the needle settles over will correspond to the current that is flowing
through your ammeter. The number on the far-right end of the meter corresponds
to the maximum current reading for the specific range that the ammeter is set for.
This maximum number is often referred to as a full-scale reading.

Set the range multiplier switch to its highest value. Examine the different ranges
that your ammeter has. One range could be for amperes, another milliamperes and
another microamperes. However, remember different ammeters will have different
ranges, so check your owner’s manual. Set the range multiplier switch to the
highest range. For this case select the ampere range. And that's because amperes
are a thousand times larger than milliamperes, and milliamperes are a thousand
times larger than microamperes.

Determine the full-scale reading for the range set. Multiply the setting on the range
multiplier by the full-scale number on the meter. The full-scale number on the meter
is the number on the meter that is on the far-right end of the calibrated scale. It
may be 1, 2 or 5 or any other number. Next, multiply the full-scale number by the
range multiplier setting. If your full-scale number was 1.5, and your range multiplier
was set to milliamperes, the maximum current you could measure with your
ammeter would be 1.5 milliamperes, or 0.0015 amperes, since dividing
milliamperes by 1,000 gives the current in terms of 3.

Connect a simple circuit so that the current will flow through the ammeter. Connect
the positive probe of the ammeter to the positive terminal of the power supply.
Connect the negative probe of the ammeter to one end of a resistor. Finally
connect the other end of the resistor to the negative terminal of the power supply.
The ammeter is now connected so that the current that flows through the resistor
will also flow through the ammeter, also know as an in-series connection.

Vocabulary
 Measure : mengukur
 Confused : bingung
 Current : arus
 Wire : kawat
 Depend : tergantung
 Scale : skala
 Needle : jarum
 Across : melintasi
 Settles : mengendap
 Range : rentang
 Dividing : pembagi
 Throught : lewat