TITLE : Kirchoff Law

OBJECTIVES
i.
ii.

Explore series and parallel combination of resistors

Measure the resisitor value using digital multimeter

EQUIPMENT LIST

Multimeter

DC Power Supply

Bread Board

Wire Clip

Resistors

THEORY

From the experiment given so far , it should be easy for you to identify both
series and parallel circuits. But there is another type of circuit that has branches, like
parallel circuit, and series loads or elements like series circuit. This is called a seriesparallel network since it is a combination of the others
There are many circuits that are so complex that they cannot be solved by
Ohms Laws. There circuits have many branches or many power sources, and Ohm
Laws would be either impractical or experiment of a German physicist. Gustaw
Kirchoff. About 1897, Kirchoff developed two conclusions, known as Kirchoffs Law,
can be state as follow :
Kirchoffs Voltage Law
Kirchhoffs voltage law is also known as his first law. It is stated that he sum
of the voltage drop around any closed loop is equal to the sum of the voltage source in
that loop. It gives the relationship between the voltage drops around any closed loop
in a circuit and the voltage source in that loop. The total of the two quatities are
always equal. This can be given in equation form as :
symbol

V 5= IR , where the

which is the Greek letter sigma, means the sum off.

Kirchoffs Current Law

Kirchoffs current law is called his second law. It is started that the current
arriving at any junction point in a circuit is equal to the current leaving that point.
Current cannot collect or buit up at a point. Thus if 1A of current arrives at a junction
that has two parths leading away from it, it will divide among the two paths , but the
toal 1A must leave the junction.

INTRODUCTION

The circuits in this problem set are comprised of unspecified circuit elements. (We
dont know if a particular circuit element is a resistor or a voltage source or something
else.) The current and voltage of each circuit element is labeled, sometimes as a value
and sometimes as a variable. Some of these problems ask that we determine the value
of a particular voltage or current. Other problems ask for the values of the power
supplied or received by a particular circuit element. Kirchhoffs laws are used to
determine values of currents or voltages. The passive convention is used to decide if
the product of a particular element current and voltage is the power supplied or
received by the circuit element

EXPRIMENT 9-1
Kirchhoffs Voltage Law
1. The circuit as per figure 9-1 using variable DC Power supply, bread board ,
multimeter, resistors and wires provided.

2. Turn on the variable power supply. Adjust the power supply to 20V
3. Measure and record the VR1 as indicated by the volimeter at the moment the
voltage is applied
VR1 = 4.41 v

4. Turn off the power supply. Remove the voltmeter leads from R1 and place
across R2 as per figure 9-2. Measure and voltage VR2
VR2 = 6.63

5. Turn off the power supply. Remove the voltmeter leads from R2 and place
them across R3 as per figure 9-3. Measure and record voltage VR3
VR3 = 8.92 v

6. Calculate Vtotal = VR1 + VR2 + VR3

= 4.41 + 6.63 + 8.92
= 20 V
7. Is Vsupply = Vtotal ? YES
Explanation : Because the total of voltage drop equal to volatage supply.

EXPERIMENT PROCEDURE 9-2

Kirchhoffs Current Law

1. Set the circuit as per figure 9-4 using variable DC Power supply, bread board,
ammeter, resistor and wires provided . ote that 3 load resistors connected in
parallel. (The same ammeter will be used to measure the current through each
of the 3 resistors).

2. Turn on the variable power supply. Adjust the power supply to 20V
3. Measure and record the Isupply as indicated by the ammeter
I supply = 40mA
4. Turn off the power supply. Reconnect the circuit as per figure 9.5

5. Turn on the power supply. Measure and record the I1 as indicated by the
ammeter
I1 = 20 mA
6. Turn off power. Reconnect the circuit as per figure 9-6

7. Turn on the power supply. Measure and record the I2 as indicated by the
ammeter
I1 = 13 mA
8. Turn off the power supply. Reconnect the circuit the circuit as per figure 9-7

9. Turn on the power supply. Measure and record the 13 as indicated by the
ammeter
I3 = 10 mA
10. Turn off the power supply. Calculate Itotal = I1 + I2 + I3
= 20 mA + 13mA + 10mA
= 43 mA
11. IS Isuply = Itotal ? NO
Explanation :
This is because there an error occur due to the multimeter with 0.003A
difference.

DISCUSSION

Kirchhoffs Voltage Law is a useful tool for circuit analysis.

The voltage drops across both resistors were equal even though the currents
were different. The voltage drop is ALWAYS the same across two resistors in

parallel.
Notice that IR1 + IR2 = I. This means that current is conserved. We will learn
later that this is an application of Kirchhoffs Current Law (KCL)

CONCLUSION
The conclusion of this experiment proves that Kirchoff Laws is true. The sum of the
currents flowing through the branches of a parallel circuit will be equal to the current
flowing through the sum branch of a circuit.
REFRENCES
1.
2.
3.
4.

http://www.slideshare.net/itsnadia/physics-experiment
http://www.ampbooks.com/home/tutorials/lesson-007/
Lab sheet 9
Circuit Theory / Kirchoff Laws

APPENDIX