Ohm’s Law I

By Andre Johnson

Course and Section #: PHYS 231, Section 006

Lab Instructor: Evan Combes

Lab Performed on February 8th, 2021

Report Submitted on February 12, 2021

Abstract:
Light bulbs are used to give a visual indication of the flow of current and power
consumed by a resistive element. To study this principle, elementary direct current electrical
circuits were constructed and analyzed to grab data. The circuits were set up in series, parallel,
and both where the voltage was counting from one to eighteen. The lab was intended for us to
have a conceptual understanding of the Ohm’s Law (V=IR). We focused on observing the
current, resistance and power at each respective voltage given in every circuit configuration. It
was found that the current in both series and parallel splits between each bulb, and the overall
current is halved when the bulbs are in series but doubled when in parallel.
Results:
Part I:

Voltag Current Resistance Power

e (V) (I) (R) (P)
0 0 0 0
1 0.022 45.45 0.022
2 0.034 58.82 0.068
3 0.044 68.18 0.132
4 0.052 76.92 0.208
5 0.06 83.33 0.3
6 0.067 89.55 0.402
7 0.074 94.59 0.518
8 0.08 100.00 0.64
9 0.086 104.65 0.774
10 0.092 108.70 0.92
11 0.096 114.58 1.056
12 0.102 117.65 1.224
13 0.108 120.37 1.404
14 0.112 125.00 1.568
15 0.117 128.21 1.755
16 0.122 131.15 1.952
17 0.126 134.92 2.142
18 0.13 138.46 2.34
Table 1: Voltage, Current, Resistance, and Power Consumed for Configuration of Part I
In Part 1, the circuit only has 1 bulb, therefore it did not have to share the current
flowing through the circuit. The resistance did not increase at current rate as you can see from
Table 1, and the current vs. resistance did not come out to have a linear graph and that was
probably due to the voltage increasing at a constant rate.
Part II:

Voltag Current (2 Resistance (2 Power (2

e Series) Series) Series)
0 0 0.000 0
1 0.016 62.500 0.016
2 0.024 83.333 0.048
3 0.032 93.750 0.096
4 0.038 105.263 0.152
5 0.042 119.048 0.21
6 0.048 125.000 0.288
7 0.052 134.615 0.364
8 0.056 142.857 0.448
9 0.06 150.000 0.54
10 0.064 156.250 0.64
11 0.068 161.765 0.748
12 0.072 166.667 0.864
13 0.075 173.333 0.975
14 0.078 179.487 1.092
15 0.082 182.927 1.23
16 0.086 186.047 1.376
17 0.088 193.182 1.496
18 0.092 195.652 1.656
Table 2: Voltage, Current, Resistance, and Power Consumed for Configuration of Part II
In the part 2 configuration circuit, two bulbs were constructed in series. Theoretically,
the current should be half of the part 1 circuit current, yet as you can see in Table 2, the current
is not halved. The current definitely decreases but not at the rate we predicted. The error in the
data received could be due to the accuracy of the equipment. The resistance is higher which
means the second bulb in series is offering a larger resistance to the flow of current. The power
consumed was lower due to the higher resistance provided by the bulbs in series setup.
Part III:

Voltage (V) Current (I) Resistance (R) Power (P)

0 0 0.000 0
1 0.05 20.000 0.05
2 0.07 28.571 0.14
3 0.09 33.333 0.27
4 0.107 37.383 0.428
5 0.124 40.323 0.62
6 0.14 42.857 0.84
7 0.154 45.455 1.078
8 0.169 47.337 1.352
 9 0.182 49.451 1.638
10 0.194 51.546 1.94
11 0.206 53.398 2.266
12 0.216 55.556 2.592
13 0.228 57.018 2.964
14 0.238 58.824 3.332
15 0.248 60.484 3.72
16 0.256 62.500 4.096
17 0.266 63.910 4.522
18 0.276 65.217 4.968
Table 3: Voltage, Current, Resistance, and Power Consumed for Configuration of Part III
In Part 3, the electrical configuration had two bulbs in parallel. They both emitted the
same amount of light and the total resistance was a lot smaller than the part 1 and 2
configurations. The power was nearly double that of the power for a single bulb, and each bulb
consisted of half of the total current.
Part IV

Voltage (V) Current (I) Resistance (R) Power (P)

0 0 0 0
1 0.044 22.727 0.044
2 0.064 31.250 0.128
3 0.08 37.500 0.24
4 0.094 42.553 0.376
5 0.106 47.170 0.53
6 0.12 50.000 0.72
7 0.13 53.846 0.91
8 0.142 56.338 1.136
9 0.152 59.211 1.368
10 0.162 61.728 1.62
11 0.17 64.706 1.87
12 0.18 66.667 2.16
13 0.188 69.149 2.444
14 0.196 71.429 2.744
15 0.204 73.529 3.06
16 0.212 75.472 3.392
17 0.22 77.273 3.74
18 0.228 78.947 4.104
Table 4: Voltage, Current, Resistance, and Power Consumed for Configuration of Part IV
In Part 4, the configuration had a single bulb in a lower branch and two bulbs in series in
a higher branch. The bulbs in series were darker and the bulb sitting alone was much brighter
than the other two. This is probably due to the fact that the two in series had less current
flowing through them than the front bulb. The bulb in parallel is getting full voltage while the
bulbs that are in series are splitting the voltage. For the power consumption, half of the power
was used by the front bulb while the two bulbs in series split the remaining power.
Part V

Voltage (V) Current (I) Resistance (R) Power (P)

0 0 0 0
1 0.026 38.462 0.026
2 0.036 55.556 0.072
3 0.046 65.217 0.138
4 0.052 76.923 0.208
5 0.06 83.333 0.3
6 0.066 90.909 0.396
7 0.072 97.222 0.504
8 0.078 102.564 0.624
9 0.084 107.143 0.756
10 0.088 113.636 0.88
11 0.094 117.021 1.034
12 0.098 122.449 1.176
13 0.104 125.000 1.352
14 0.108 129.630 1.512
15 0.112 133.929 1.68
16 0.116 137.931 1.856
17 0.12 141.667 2.04
18 0.126 142.857 2.268
Table 5: Voltage, Current, Resistance, and Power Consumed for Configuration of Part V
In Part 5, the electrical configuration had two light bulbs in parallel with a third bulb in
series with both of them. The lightbulbs in parallel had about the same amount of light but they
were both dimmer in comparison to the third bulb in series. The bulbs in parallel had half of the
total current flowing through each of them while the third bulb in series had most or all of the
current flowing through it. Half of the power seemed to be consumed by the third bulb in series
while the two bulbs in parallel split the remaining half of the power.
Part VI

Voltage (V) Current (I) Resistance (R) Power (P)

0 0 0 0
1 0.017 58.824 0.017
2 0.026 76.923 0.052
3 0.032 93.750 0.096
4 0.038 105.263 0.152
5 0.044 113.636 0.22
 6 0.048 125.000 0.288
7 0.052 134.615 0.364
8 0.058 137.931 0.464
9 0.062 145.161 0.558
10 0.066 151.515 0.66
11 0.07 157.143 0.77
12 0.074 162.162 0.888
13 0.078 166.667 1.014
14 0.081 172.840 1.134
15 0.084 178.571 1.26
16 0.088 181.818 1.408
17 0.092 184.783 1.564
18 0.094 191.489 1.692
Table 6: Voltage, Current, Resistance, and Power Consumed for Configuration of Part VI
In Part 6, another switch was added in one of the branches of the parallel segment of
the circuit. When switch 2 was added and open, one bulb turned off while the remaining bulb in
the parallel segment increased in brightness and the third bulb in series decreased in
brightness. When switch 2 was closed, the circuit had the same result as Part 5. This all happens
because the added switch flips the circuit between parallel and series.
Conclusion:
From measuring the current in different electrical configurations, we were able to
calculate the associated resistance and power consumed in each scenario. The numbers
calculated were dependent on the fact if the configuration was in series, parallel, or a
combination of the two. Most of the values seem accurate, but there could be an small error
with the ammeter when finding the current values.