Bridge circuits were being employed to determine component values like R, L, and C.
A bridge circuit in its most basic form consists of a group of four resistance arms forming a closed circuit, with a direct current source supplied to the opposite junction and a current detector.
Bridge circuits compare the value of an unknown component to the value of a fixed reference component (a standard), thus their role in determining the outcome may be very high.
The current flowing through the galvanometer, ig, is proportional to the potential difference between points B and D.
Current in one direction causes the pointer to deflect on one side, while current in the opposite direction causes the pointer to deflect on the opposite side.
If there is no current flowing through the gauge, the galvanometer pointer is set to zero (midscale).
When there is no current through the galvanometer or if the potential across the galvanometer is zero, then the bridge is balanced.