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ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING 231

LAB #2: Simplification of Series and Parallel Resistor


Circuits
September 18, 2013
Joe Beeson (report author), and Alex Lopez

ABSTRACT:
This lab will explore equivalent resistance and its different applications.
Resistance in this case can be checked using a calculator and known
equations, so all experimental data will be cross-checked with calculated
values to determine error.

Introduction
In order to understand this lab several principles must be understood beforehand
Ohms Law- Ohms law can be simply stated as V=IR, where V=voltage, I=current,
and R=resistance. This law is very helpful when analyzing currents and can be
considered a universal law, meaning it holds in all situations.
Equivalent resistance- equivalent resistance the property by which several
resistors can be viewed as single equivalent resistance. When resistors are
arranged in series the equivalent resistance is simply the sum of all resistors in
said series. When resistors are in parallel the equivalent resistance is equal to
the reciprocal of the sum of reciprocals of the individual resistors in said series.
Constants in a circuit- when two or more resistors are in parallel the voltage
across each resistor will be equivalent whereas, when two or more resistors are
in series the current will be equivalent through each resistor.
Error can be calculated by taking actual value minus predicted all divided by
actual value
Voltage divider across Ra(only works in series):
Procedure
Experiment 1:
Experiment one entails setting up the circuit, recording the actual values of each
component, calculate the equivalent resistance, connecting the circuit to a power
supply, and measuring the current through each resistor.
Experiment 2:
Experiment two entails setting up the circuit, measuring the actual values of each
resistor then measuring equivalent resistance.
Experiment 3:
Experiment three entails setting up the circuit using RA=10 k and RB=1 k then use a
voltmeter to record the voltage in and the voltage across RB. Then repeat the same
experiment with RA=RB=1 M
Experiment 4:
Experiment four entails creating a circuit with an equivilent resistance of 370 using
470 and 220 resistors.

Results and discussion


Experiment 1:

The first part of this experiment requires us to measure each resistor and measure the
equivelent resistance of the four resistors in paralell.
Calculated Req using nominal resistance values
(
) =182.32
Measured values:
R1= .9928 k, R2= .9944 k, R3= 2.1644 k, R4= 328.8
Calculated Req=(
) =181.28
Measured Req= 181.33
Experimental error between calculated and measured-- .026%
Experimental error between calc. using nominal values and measured .55%
Even if we did not measure the acutual values of resistance our error would still
be less than one percent. But using our measured resistance our error was
extremely small

Second part of the experiments requires us to calculate the current current through
each resistor if 5 volts is applied to the circuit, then test the actual value.
V=5.003 volts
Calculated currents: i1= 5.039 mA i2= 5.031 mA i3= 2.311 mA i4= 15.216 mA
Measured currents: i1= 4.986 mA i2= 4.975 mA i3= 2.301 mA i4= 14.747 mA
Experimental error: i1= 1.06%
i2= 1.13%
i3= 0.43%
i4= 3.31%
In general our error values where extremely small meaning our data conferms our
prediction. It can be seen that every value of measured current is less than the
calculated. This can be attributed to the internal resistance of the ammeter. This is
confermed by the fact that larger the resistors resistance the smaller the error. This is
because the internal resistance of the ammeter adds to the resistance of the resistor
causing less current to be drawn in an amount proportional to the ratio between
ammeter resistance and resistor resistance, but because the error is so small it does not
negate our data.

Experiment 2:

For experiment two we measured the resistance of each resistor and then used
equivelent resistance laws to break down the circuit and calculate the equivelent
resistance. then measure the actual equivelent resistance and compare the measured to
the actual.
R1= .9928 k R2= .9944 k R3= 2.1644k
Req using nominal values (
Req using measured values (
Measured Req= 1.036 k
Error using nominal values1.16%
Error using measured values0.00%

)
)

By looking at our error percent it appears that our data is extremely creidible. Not only
is the error using nominal values under two percent but out calculated resistance using
measured values was identical to the actual measured Req.

Experiment 3:

For this section of the experiment we first measure each of the components we will be
using and predict values for the voltage across RB
V in = 9.999 volts RA= .9943 k RB= 9.876k
Calculated voltage across RB:
Measured voltage across RB: 9.083 volts
Experimental error: 0.011%
Same experiment with new resistors
V in = 10.000 volts RA= 1.003 M RB= .976 M
Calculated voltage across RB:
Measured voltage across RB: 4.712
Experimental error: 4.67%
For this section of the error grew quite a bit. This can be assumed to be because of the
internal resistance of the voltmeter. When the voltmeter is attached across RB it puts
the internal resistance of the voltmeter in parallel with RB. This drops the resistance
across RB and therefore gives a voltage reading smaller than that of the actual voltage.
This can be accounted for by recalculating the resistance across RB using R-internal to
be 11 M
(
)
Use this value as RB when calculating voltage drop

for an experimental error: 0.16%

Experiment 4:
For this final part of the experiment we will construct a circuit using the only 470 and
220 resistors that has an equivalent resistance of 370 .

To test this we built and identical circuit and tested the equivalent resistance using an
ohmmeter
RA= 216.3 RB= 463.7 RC= 215.9
Calculated Req (

Measured Req = 363.5


Experimental error: 0.028%
Our measured resistance was not 370 because the actual values of the resistors where not
nominal, but using the measured values of each resistor our experimental value was extremely
close to the calculated.
Conclusion
Most of the procedures performed in this lab were easily checked using a calculator, which
made it apparent that we were using very accurate equipment. For most of the experiments our
error was below one percent. And when the error did begin to swell we could quantify it by
examining the internal resistance in the multi-meter. Overall I was very pleased with the
outcomes of the lab and feel like there was next to no human error involved in our calculations.
All decimals in calculations were left in calculator until the end so that rounding did not attribute
to the error. Equivalent resistance is one of the backbones of creating circuits and this lab was
an excellent teacher.

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