Does a voltmeter have its own voltage?

There's a circuit with a potential divider, a bulb, ammeter and a voltmeter in parallel with the bulb. The bulb is labeled with a voltage of 12 and the voltmeter is labeled with a voltage of 20. So is the voltage of the bulb 12 or 20? Is 20 supposed to be the voltage of the voltmeter?

Reply 1

tarwe

could you post a photo of the circuit diagram?

Reply 2

Joinedup

What are the labels supposed to be showing? it could be the maximum voltage rating of the bulb and the voltmeter are different?

i.e. you could measure a voltage of upto and including 20V on the voltmeter - but the bulb is only rated for 12V

Reply 3

kawther30

Original post by tarwe

could you post a photo of the circuit diagram?

image-ce24bae3-4ed3-4984-bc35-7ca4e3f6ab3a1054724953-compressed.jpg.jpeg

Reply 4

kawther30

Original post by Joinedup

That does make sense

Reply 5

tarwe

yeah im pretty sure thats giving you the rating of the bulb.
The voltmeter should have infinite (or super high) resistance so won't draw any current. Maybe the 20 V is what the voltmeter is reading?

Reply 6

uberteknik

Original post by tarwe

yeah im pretty sure thats giving you the rating of the bulb.
The voltmeter should have infinite (or super high) resistance so won't draw any current. Maybe the 20 V is what the voltmeter is reading?

Original post by kawther30

That does make sense

The 12V, 24W label is the rating of the lamp. i.e. It will use 24W power when the p.d. across the lamp is 12V.

The 20V and 2A label next to the voltmeter and ammeter respectively, are their range settings. i.e. the maximum reading obtainable on the instrument range that gives the best precision for the experiment measurements.