PHY 2042

Experiment #7
Ohm’s Law

Name: Caoimhe Davis

Date: March 3, 2012
Object: To graphically study Ohm’s Law and calculate the resistance of three sample
resistors.

Data & Results:

Resistor 1 Resistor 2 Resistor 3
3570 Ω 2380 Ω 1001 Ω
Voltage current current current
(V) (Amps) Voltage (V) (Amps) Voltage (V) (Amps)
2.11 0.00059 2.08 0.00087 2.25 0.00227
4.18 0.00117 4.03 0.00169 3.98 0.00402
6.05 0.00170 6.09 0.00256 5.92 0.00593
8.05 0.00226 7.86 0.00330 7.83 0.00791
9.96 0.00280 9.92 0.00417 9.33 0.01000
12.21 0.00344 11.82 0.00497 12.00 0.01200

Voltage vs. Current

14
V = (3545.0 Ω ± 4.4Ω) I + (0.0269V ± 0.0097V)
R² = 0.999994 V = (2375.8 Ω ± 1.3 Ω)I + (0.013V ± 0.004V)
2
12 R = 0.999999

10

8
Voltage (V)

V = (972.62Ω ± 33.12)I + 0.0556V ± 0.2576 V 3570 Ω

2
R = 0.9954
1001 Ω
6
2380 Ω

0
-0.002 0 0.002 0.004 0.006 0.008 0.01 0.012 0.014
Current (amps)

Discussion/Conclusion:
What was expected: The graph of voltage vs. current (using the equation V = IR) was
expected to be a linear graph (R2 = 1) with a y-intercept of 0 and a slope equal to the
calculated resistance of the resistors.
What was observed: The R2 values for the three resistors were 0.999994, 0.999999 and
0.9954. The y-intercepts were 0.0269, 0.013 and 0.0556. The values for the three resistors
were as follows:

Band Colours on Theoretical Measured Calculated

Resistor Resistance (Ω) Resistance (Ω) Resistance (Ω)
Orange-blue-red- 3600 ± 5% 3570 3545 ± 4.4
gold
Red-yellow-red- 2400 ± 5% 2380 2375 ± 1.3
gold
Brown-black-red- 1000 ± 5% 1001 972.62 ± 33.12
gold

The differences between the measured and calculated values of resistance could be due to
a small amount of resistance in the wires and/or multimeters, issues with connectivity or
other setup errors.