RMS OR DC value of the waveform is measured by DC voltmeter for the below input

rmsvoltage measurement

The DC voltmeter measures the average value of the waveform right?

I have read that ac voltmeters (high end) measure the RMS value based on heating effect while DC voltmeters measure the average value of the waveform.

My question is :

When i calculate the average value of the waveform i get 3.33V (10/3) assuming its a nonperiodic input signal,but the actual answer is 10V WHY???

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Best Answer

A DC voltmeter measures the average voltage at its terminal hence it doesn't read anything when a true AC signal is applied. In your case, with the signal shown a DC voltmeter will measure the average and that is 2.5 volts because, as Brian Drummond points out, the duty cycle is 25%. This means the correct answer is "B".

Under no circumstances is the voltage measured by a DC voltmeter 10V. An RC low pass network is very similar to how the DC voltmeter gradually acquires the average voltage of the input: -

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The example shows an input square wave with peak of 1V and 50:50 duty cycle. The voltmeter (aka capacitor) gradually attains an average voltage that is 0.5 volts. Note that there is also a slight ripple but, with a conventional meter and a square wave of duty cycle 40 us, the ripple will be negligible.

So, you have either specified the question incorrectly or the answer you were given is incorrect (or I am wrong).