Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Lab Section 13
According to Ohm’s law, there is a linear relationship between the voltage drop across a circuit
element and the current flowing through it. Therefore the resistance R is viewed as a constant
independent of the voltage and the current. A current vs. voltage plot is called the I-V
characteristic of the device and is satisfied when the I-V characteristic is a straight line.
V = IR.
Procedure:
In Part I of the lab, Voltages and corresponding currents are measured by meters. We connected
the circuit with a resistor 3 as the device under test. We started with a low voltage and slowly worked
our way up careful to not exceed 10 Volts and 250 mA. We measured at least 5 values of the current
read by the ammeter of voltage between 0 and 10 Volts. After we gathered the data, we reversed
the polarity of the power supply and the meters and repeat these measurements for negative
voltages and currents. For Part II of the lab, we repeated the same procedure as in Part I but with
the light bulb as a resistor. However, we used small voltages that are below the voltage needed to
make the bulb glow brightly for our measurements. In Part III of the lab, we did the same procedure
as in Part I and II but with the silicone diode, however we took into fact the polarity and took a series
of data for one end of the diode “positive”, and another series of data for the other end of the diode
“negative”
Christina Jean-Francois 111569694
Lab Section 13
Data
Part I: REsistor
1.5 0.1
-1.5 -0.1
3.8 0.2
-3.8 -0.2
5.6 0.3
-5.6 -0.3
7.5 0.4
-7.5 -0.4
9.4 0.5
-9.4 -0.5
(mA)
1 0.5
-1 -0.5
2 0.7
-2 -0.7
3 0.8
-3 -0.9
4 0.1
-4 -0.1
5 1.1
-5 -1.1
Volt Current
(V) (mA)
Christina Jean-Francois 111569694
Lab Section 13
2 1
-2 -1
4 2
-4 -2
6 3
-6 -3
8 4
-8 -4
9 5
-9 -5
Analysis/Discussion
The voltage across each device to be studied is varied by changing the output of a power supply The
current that passes through the voltmeter is not significant because when we attach just the voltmeter
and the ammeter in a series circuit to the power supply, there is no significant readings that appear. A
power supply provides current at whatever voltage is needed to drive that current through the circuit
connected to its two output terminals. The resistance of the ammeter is “small” so to accurately read
the current that will pass through the resistor. The voltmeter measures the voltage drop across the
resistor. The resistance of the voltmeter is large so that it doesn't draw current through it. With both the
current and voltage, we can find the resistance of the resistor using Ohm’s Law which states:
𝑉
𝑅=
𝐼
Which we will use to find the resistance of the resistor by plotting V vs I. Based on the color bands of
resistor 3, the resistance is 10 ohms. We calculated 18.8 ohms for the resistance, leaving us with a
percent error of 80% . For Part II, the resistance of the lightbulb was measured as 4 ohms. The lightbulb
does obeys Ohm’s Law for because the relationship between its I-V characteristic is a straight line. With
the first data points, the relationship between the voltage and current is direct, however, when higher
voltages are achieved, the bulb is beginning to glow which changes the resistance drastically as light and
Christina Jean-Francois 111569694
Lab Section 13
heat are being generated. In Part III of the lab, the silicone Diode also obeys Ohm’s Law as the
relationships between is Current and Voltage maintain a straight line, and we calculated it to be 5.3
ohms.
Conclusion:
All the experimental objects have passed the concept of Ohm’s Law, however, in finding their actual
resistance value, we were presented with a systematic error in our meters. During the lab, we had a lot
of trouble in finding both an ammeter and voltmeter that would work. At first we were getting values
much different from what is presented on this lab, but mid lab the ammeter stopped working and we
had to get a new ammeter, which is what gave us current data. WE had to repeat the lab once again due
to the difference in readings. The flow of the current has not stopped, simply the meter that was
reading it which explains the high percent error in the resistor, but allowed for all the objects to have
obeyed ohms law by having a direct relationship between the voltage and current.
Christina Jean-Francois 111569694
Lab Section 13
Part I: Resistor