A digital multimeter, which can be used as an electronic voltmeter.
An electrical voltmeter is an electrical device used to measure the voltage or current that moves between two points or contacts within an electrical circuit. Voltmeters are manufactured in many different formats, each of which is used for different applications. Electronic voltmeters can be analog or digital. They are designed to experience direct contact with electrical energy and power through a circuit to measure the capacitance, resistance, tolerance, voltage, and electrical potential of that circuit.
Voltmeters are used to measure the voltage that travels between two points within a circuit.
Some voltmeters are created as permanent fixtures within circuits and are located on circuit boards, where they are used to determine the constant current that travels between two points within the circuit. Portable voltmeters, on the other hand, are contained in small, usually portable devices that use two external contact points. These contact points can be placed on two different circuit contacts to display the voltage or electrical potential of that circuit.
There are several types of electronic voltmeters, including the sophisticated digital oscilloscope.
An electronic voltmeter can test the electrical potential of direct and alternating currents. An electronic voltmeter is also capable of calculating both currents for voltage measurements within a circuit. Due to the fact that an electronic voltmeter is capable of measuring different aspects of a circuit, and is capable of doing so regardless of the power supplied to the circuit, such voltmeters are also considered multimeters. The voltmeter can only take a measurement when the circuit is complete, which means that power must flow through the circuit for the meter to take a reading of the circuit’s voltage potential.
Other uses and applications associated with an electronic voltmeter include testing circuits. The tests check for the presence of voltage or power before an electrical engineer or electrician begins work on the circuit. An electronic voltmeter can also be used to provide students in an electrical lab with visual examples of where dangerous voltages and energy can be stored.
Digital and analog methods are not the only methods of using the electronic voltmeter. There are electrostatic voltmeters, which can measure the electrical potential of a circuit without any physical contact of the wire with the circuit itself. An oscilloscope, for example, is a voltmeter that is considered much more advanced than a normal voltmeter because it has the ability to track the number of times a current changes its course or direction in an AC circuit. A typical voltmeter does not have the ability to take measurements that fast.
The most commonly purchased and used voltmeters are called solenoid voltmeters. These voltmeters are durable and capable of withstanding a significant amount of abuse. The durability stems from the simplicity of its design.