What Does Negative Voltage Mean On A Multimeter

The signs on the multimeter can be a bit confusing and it is vital if you understand what they mean.

What does negative voltage mean on a multimeter. Testing voltage the screen will show 1 or ol if the range is very low indicating that it is out of range or overloaded while it won t damage or put your multimeter at risk. I ve never gotten a negative reading on the ac range before and didn t think this was possible. One point typically has a higher potential than the other and the difference between the higher potential point and the lower is expressed as a positive voltage. Flip your multimeter leads and the negative sign will disappear.

Remember a battery being 9v means the plus terminal is 9v higher than the minus terminal. Voltage works the same way. So if you ve been wondering what the different signs on a multimeter mean we are here to elaborate them for you. Meaning to say there is no continuity.

This is all negative voltage means a polarity switch of the battery from its positive orientation to its opposite side its negative orientation. A way to measure the voltage orientation in a circuit is by using a multimeter placed on the voltmeter settings. Testing continuity the screen will show 1 or ol open loop is the test is not detected. It s the same with voltage.

For example imagine two 9v batteries. The negative sign is just a convention in the same way that the car has the same height regardless of which way you measure it. It makes sense that if current flows from positive to negative inside a current furnishing device perhaps a battery then that same current must flow negative to positive outside that current furnishing device. You will only get a negative reading on a multimeter if you are attempting to measure a dc voltage in which case it means you have the leads connected the wrong way round red to ve and black to ve.

Otherwise there is no route for electric current to flow from the probe to probe. John is still the exact same person he s just placed differently compared to the ground. A multimeter comes with various signs and symbols that the user needs to know. Because the multimeter measures the voltage at the positive probe relative to the negative probe.

When your multimeter reads a negative voltage that means that the red test probe is connected to a more negative voltage potential than is the black test probe. I tried measuring the rather messier first transformer that i wound a 15mm e core with my multimeter a high end fluke but it says the voltage across the secondary is 650v ac. Therefore the position of his feet becomes negative.