Hello
I am curious to know what would be displayed on an ammeter if:

two sensors were connected in parallel, taking to different readings that would generate -100mA on one sensor and then +200mA on the other sensor.
So basically the current will flow one way through one sensor but then the current will flow the other way generating 200mA, would the resulting reading on the ammeter be 100mA?

Thanks

Antony

 

Hello
I am curious to know what would be displayed on an ammeter if:

two sensors were connected in parallel, taking to different readings that would generate -100mA on one sensor and then +200mA on the other sensor.
So basically the current will flow one way through one sensor but then the current will flow the other way generating 200mA, would the resulting reading on the ammeter be 100mA?

Thanks

If they were in parallel wouldn't the current only flow one way through both? I guess it would depend on what kind of sensors you were talking about. Maybe a drawing would help.
Your concept of current may be off. A sensor that generates a signal generates a voltage. How much current will flow depends on the load and the limitations of the sensors to sustain that load.

Antony

 

There will be one current in one direction through all 3 devices. The direction will depend on the relative EMFs of the 3 devices. Of course the ammeter has a zero EMF, so it comes down to a fight between the other two. The magnitude of the current will depend on the net EMF and the combined series resistance of the 3 devices.

 

Hi
Thank you for the replies, basically I have a home built gas turbine engine that I want to improve the combustion chamber, I have a fadec system that I can program to display measured current.

I wish to use 2 A/F ratio sensor from a car (o2 sensors) basically when fuelling is 16:1 the sensor output is 0 mA, is the ratio of air to fuel increases the current output decreases. When the fuel to air ratio decreases below 16:1 the current output decreases into minus figures, or the current flow is reversed.

I am just curious to see if I used them both in parallel to achieve an average.
So if one sensor was outputting 200mA and the other outputting -100mA would I expect to see 100mA reading? Or will I just have to experiment to see?