Laboratory Report

Georgia Southern University

Allen E. Paulson College of Engineering and Computing
Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering
Electric & Circuit Analysis
ENGR 2131, SPRING - 2020

Experiment Title: Kirchoff’s Laws

Experiment Number: #1
Section: AA
Date: 1/28/2020
Course Instructor: Dr. Alaa Abdullah

Student Name: Manuel Abadie

Alaa Abdullah, Ph.D., P.Eng.

SPRING-2020
 I- Background Information:
An electric circuit is any path that allows the flow of current. This path may
contain any number of power sources and devices that alter the way current flows
through it. One of these devices is the resistor. The resistor, shown in diagrams as
zigzag line, is a conductor that has a certain resistance to the flow of current and
decreases the current’s voltage. Resistors are used everywhere from kitchen
appliances to industry-level machinery. Their use, however, can be in series, in
parallel, or mixed, as shown in Fig. 1a-1b. The resistors in series increase the
equivalent resistance of the circuits while the resistors in parallel provide a much
smaller equivalence. In this experiment, students will build of some circuits in a
breadboard and measure the individual and equivalent resistances that will help them
understand this relationship as well as Ohm’s Law.

Figure 1

II- Nomenclature
Ω Ohms, unit of resistance
A Amperes, unit of current
V Volts, unit of voltage

III- Experiment Body: (Use the information in the experiment)

The first part of the experiment consists of obtaining 3 resistors and using the
chart in Fig. 2, calculate the rated value of resistance for each resistor. Subsequently,
using an ohmmeter, the actual resistance of each resistor will be measured and
recorded.

Alaa Abdullah, Ph.D., P.Eng.

SPRING-2020
 Figure 2: Color Code chart shows how to calculate the
resistance of a resistor based on its color bands.

Subsequently, using the resistors, two simple circuits had to be created on a

breadboard, one having the resistors in parallel and one having them in series. After the circuit
was ready, an ohmmeter would measure the equivalent resistance of the circuits. This would be
recorded. This circuits are shown in Fig. 3.

Figure 3: Series-connection and Parallel-

connection circuits, respectively.

Next, a circuit connecting a power source, a 1k Ω resistor, and an ammeter had to be

constructed, shown in Fig. 4. The circuit would have 10V coming from the power
source and the ammeter would measure the amperage in the circuit.

Figure 4: Measuring Current Circuit

Last, a circuit, as shown in Fig. 5, had to be constructed. The voltage across

Alaa Abdullah, Ph.D., P.Eng.

SPRING-2020
 lamp and the current on the circuit were recorded. Using Ohm’s Law, a calculation
for the resistance of the circuit was made.

Fig. 5: Simple Series Circuit

V- Simulation Results:
With the help of Fig. 1,the resistors were accurately measured mathematically and
physically using an ammeter. The values were recorded and stored on Table 1.

Color Code Rated Value Measured Tolerance and Range Within

Value Range?
Green, blue, 5.6 kΩ 5.52k Ω 5%, 5.32-5.88k Ω Yes
red, gold
Red, red, red, 2.2k Ω 2.17k Ω 5%, 2.09-2.31K Ω Yes
gold
Orange, White, 39k Ω 38.73 Ω 5%, 37.05-40.9K Ω Yes!
orange gold.

Table 1: Rated Values and Measured Values of Resistors

Table 2 shows the comparison between resistance measurements of individual

resistors and the measurements if resistors were set up in parallel or in series.

Table Color code value Measured Value

2: R1 R2 R1 R2 Total Resistance Total Resistance
in Series in Parallel
39 k Ω 2.2k Ω 38.73k Ω 2.17k Ω 40.8k Ω 2.18k Ω
Resistors connected in Series and Parallel

The current measured of the circuit that involved a ammeter and a 1k Ω resistor
presented a 9.87 A.

Alaa Abdullah, Ph.D., P.Eng.

SPRING-2020
 The circuit that involved a lamp and switch was built and set up to the rated
voltage of the lamp and closed. Using and ammeter and voltmeter, the numbers were
found. Voltage drop across the lamp was 9.44V and the current was 256mA. Using
these two pieces of data and Ohm’s Law, the internal resistance of the lamp could be
found. The internal Resistance was 36.9 Ω.

VI- Conclusion:
All in all, the data obtained from the lab is consistent with the governing
equations of parallel and series resistors and Ohm’s Law. That means the answers are
satisfactory.

Nonetheless, there were some other lessons learnt from this lab. For example, the
way a meter works and why it would be incorrect to measure a resistance with an
ohmmeter with the circuit full of current. This is because the ohmmeter sends small
samples of current to receive, analyze, and solve using Ohm’s Law. If there was
already current in the circuit, the ohmmeter’s calculations would be inaccurate. Also,
in order to connect a meter to measure the current through a resistor, the meter should
be connected in series before the resistor and that the power is on. However, if the
purpose is to measure the voltage across a resistor, and ohmmeter should be
connected in parallel with the resistor while the power should be on. Lastly, when
measuring resistance, the meter should be connected in parallel with the circuit
element and the power should be off.

Alaa Abdullah, Ph.D., P.Eng.

SPRING-2020
Alaa Abdullah, Ph.D., P.Eng.
SPRING-2020