Potentiometer Primer 1
Potentiometer Primer
Introduction
Potentiometers are three terminal resistors with one contact, known as the wiper, which slides across the device in
order to create a variable voltage divider. They can also be used with just 2 terminals connected in which case they
behave like a variable resistor or rheostat. Potentiometers are a common choice for human interface devices since
they can easily be made to resemble a dial or track slider.
How Potentiometers Work
What is a Voltage Divider?
A voltage divider is a network of resistors that is used to reduce the voltage by some factor. The simplest form of
voltage divider is a pair of resistors in series. For example, say you have 2 10k resistors in series and nothing else
connected to a 12V power supply. The following diagrams shows the voltages at various points in the divider:
The voltage at the point between the 2 resistors is proportional to Vcc, and the ratio of the resistors. For example if
the resistors were 5k and 10k instead of 2 10k then the voltage would be 8V. If the resistors were 10k and 5k, the
voltage would be 4V.
Potentiometer Construction
There are 3 pieces to a potentiometer:
Potentiometer Primer 2
1. These are the reference terminals of the potentiometer. You connect Vcc and Gnd to A and B in order to power
your voltage divider.
2. This is a resistive material of some kind. It is often graphite though other common materials include resistance
wire, carbon particles in plastic, and a ceramic/metal mixture called cermet. In a linear potentiometer, this would
be a straight line as opposed to a circular track.
3. The final piece is the wiper. The wiper acts as a third terminal which moves over the resistive section of the
device thereby changing the resistance on either side of it. In the case of a rotational potentiometer like the one
illustrated above, the wiper is mounted on a pivot point and it can then be adjusted with a knob or screwdriver
etc... In a slider style potentiometer the wiper would sit in a track and behave like the sliders on an audio
equalizer. As the wiper nears the Vcc terminal, the voltage on the wiper terminal increases. It decreases as the
wiper nears the Gnd terminal.
Taper
The taper of a potentiometer refers to the relationship between the wiper terminal's voltage and the wiper's position.
By changing the characteristics of the resistive material the taper can be adjusted. The two most common forms of
taper are linear taper and logarithmic taper. In linear taper, the voltage changes linearly with position. Linear tapers
are often found in dials on analog equipment, and as feedback devices on linear actuators or servo motors. It then
follows that in a logarithmic taper, the voltage varies logarithmically with position. Logarithmic tapers are primarily
used in audio equipment since human perception of volume is logarithmic.
Using a Potentiometer as a Rheostat
One of the nice things about potentiometers is that they can double as a rheostat (a variable resistor). All you need to
do is leave one of the reference terminals unconnected. Now you can adjust the resistance between the 2 terminals
you are using by moving the wiper. This can be useful if you want to have an adjustable power sink.
Article Sources and Contributors 3
Article Sources and Contributors
Potentiometer Primer Source: http://www.phidgets.com/wiki/index.php?title=Potentiometer_Primer Contributors: Burley, Mparadis
Image Sources, Licenses and Contributors
File:potentiometerdiagram.png Source: http://www.phidgets.com/wiki/index.php?title=File:Potentiometerdiagram.png License: unknown Contributors: Burley
