Lakeside High School

DIY Circuits
AP Physics

Tasnim Khan
2/11/2011
Introduction
Ohm’s Law states that the current through a conductor between two points is directly
proportional to the potential difference (voltage) across the two points, and inversely
proportional to the resistance between them. The mathematical form commonly used is:

I= or V = IR,

Where V equals voltage, I equals current, and R equals resistance. More specifically, Ohm’s Law
states that the R is this relationship is constant and independent from the current.

Purpose
In this lab, we tried to confirm Ohm’s Law and demonstrate the relationship of resistors in
series and in parallel.

Materials
 Various resistors (we used all 150Ω resistors)
 Multimeter
 Wires (alligator clips)
 Power Source (9.0V battery)

Procedure
Confirm Ohm’s Law by varying voltage and resistance (only resistance in your case). Record
data from several trials and draw a circuit diagram showing all components.

 Series Circuit: build several series circuits and confirm the relationship of resistance to
current and voltage in a circuit.
 Parallel Circuit: build several parallel circuits and confirm the relationship of resistance
to current and voltage in a circuit.
Data
Multimeter Set Up in Series Circuit Diagram (9.0V Battery and 150Ω Resistors)

A1

A2

Position Voltage(V) Current(mA)

1 8.11 .3
2 8.29 .3
Multimeter Set Up in Parallel Circuit Diagram (9.0V Battery and 150Ω Resistors)

V2 V1

V3

Position Voltage(V) Current(mA)

1 8.24 3.6
2 4.11 .5
3 4.11 .5
Analysis

Current vs. Voltage Readings from Multimeter in

Series With Circuit
9.00E+00
8.00E+00
7.00E+00
Voltage(V)

6.00E+00
5.00E+00
4.00E+00
3.00E+00
2.00E+00
1.00E+00
0.00E+00
0.00E+00 1.00E+00 2.00E+00 3.00E+00 4.00E+00 5.00E+00 6.00E+00 7.00E+00 8.00E+00 9.00E+00
Current( A)

Current vs. Voltage Readings from Multimeter in

Parallel With Circuit
4.50E+00
4.00E+00
3.50E+00
Voltage(V)

3.00E+00
2.50E+00
2.00E+00
1.50E+00
1.00E+00
5.00E-01
0.00E+00
0.00E+00 1.00E+00 2.00E+00 3.00E+00 4.00E+00 5.00E+00 6.00E+00 7.00E+00 8.00E+00 9.00E+00

Current(A)
Conclusion
It was pretty much impossible for us to come up with a quantitative measure of resistance
during our experiment. Maybe it was the way that we set up the experiment, or some sort of
error with the multimeter, but the numbers that we got didn’t make any sense. As a result, we
weren’t able to calculate a percent error for the resistor values.