What exactly is a wheatstone bridge? What are its uses?

[SankalpSethi]

I would like to know what is a wheatstone bridge? I read that it is an arrangement of resistors but i am not understanding how it works and the whole concept.
Any help would be appreciated.
Thank You.

 

[Mech_Engineer]

Ever heard of Google? There are about a bazillion results...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheatstone_bridge

 

[Naty1]

Its a clever use of resistors (or other elements) in a circuit to enhance accuracy of measurements. As the reference above explains

The Wheatstone bridge illustrates the concept of a difference measurement, which can be extremely accurate

 

[Born2bwire]

Its a clever use of resistors (or other elements) in a circuit to enhance accuracy of measurements. As the reference above explains

Not having looked at the wikipedia article, I don't know if they mention this or not but a good example are stress sensors. These sensors are flexible films with a wheatstone bridge imprinted on the film. Bending the film causes the resistances in the bridge to change, which are easily and accurately measured by the appropriate voltages.