INSTITUTO POLITÉCNICO NACIONAL

ESCUELA SUPERIOR DE CÓMPUTO

LABORATORIO DE ANÁLISIS FUNDAMENTAL DE CIRCUITOS

Practice No. 1
“USING THE OHMMETER, VOLTMETER AND AMMETER IN
MEASUREMENTS OF D.C.”

Group:
1CV6

Team:
12

Members:
Álvarez Hernández Zeth
Valverde Reyes Luis Humberto
Rangel Palma Benjamín

Teacher:
José Alfredo Martinez Guerrero

Date: 30/03/2015 Delivery date: 23/04/2015

 Practice 1: The use of the ohmmeter, voltmeter and ammeter

Objective:

We will understand the proper handling of measuring instruments, so that at the end of practice,
we should be able to:

Use properly the digital ohmmeter.

Use properly the digital voltmeter.
Use properly the digital ammeter.

Equipment Material

1 Digital Multimeter. 1 Breadboard.

1 Variable Voltage Source. 1 1KΩ to ¼ of watt Resistor.
4 Banana-Cayman tips. 1 560Ω to ¼ of watt Resistor.
2 Cayman-Cayman tips. 1 680Ω to ¼ of watt Resistor.
1 330Ω to ¼ of watt Resistor.
Wires for connection.

I. - Theoretical Introduction

A voltmeter is an instrument for measuring the potential difference between two points in a
circuit. Note that the voltmeter is connected in parallel. Voltmeters are often constructed using a
micro-ammeter (or galvanometer) as a basic unit to which is added in series resistance. This
resistance, together with the characteristics of the basic unit defines the measurement range of
the voltmeter. The usual voltmeters have several scales, which means that the manufacturer has
mounted therein suitable for each resistance. From the viewpoint of an electric network, the
equivalent circuit of a voltmeter is its internal resistance.

Example:

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 Practice 1: The use of the ohmmeter, voltmeter and ammeter

An ammeter is an instrument for measuring the intensity of the electric current passing through a
given circuit branch. The usual ammeters required to discontinue this branch point and interleave
the apparatus, so that the current to be measured to circulate inside the same. Ammeters are
connected in series. Analog ammeters are often constructed using micro ammeter base unit to a
parallel resistor is connected. This resistance, together with the characteristics of the basic unit
defines the measurement range of the ammeter. The usual ammeters have several scales, the
manufacturer defined within the mounting device suitable for each resistance. From the viewpoint
of the electrical network in which the device is used, the equivalent circuit of an internal resistance
ammeter.

Example:

II. - Practice's development

II.1. - Using the ohmmeter

Without energizing any circuit element, we measured the resistance presented by each resistor
using the ohmmeter, as shown in Figure 3.

Figure 3. Connection in the ohmmeter

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 Practice 1: The use of the ohmmeter, voltmeter and ammeter

Chart 1. Measuring resistive values.

Resistors Measurement with digital Value with the color code.

ohmmeter.
R1 981 Ω 1000 ± 5 %
coffee, black , red, gold
R2 550 Ω 560 ± 5 %
green, blue, brown , gold
R3 672 Ω 680 ± 5 %
blue, gray, brown , gold
R4 323.80 Ω 330 ± 5 %
orange , orange , brown, gold

II.2. - Using the voltmeter

In figure 4 is shown how is measured the voltage in one element. Once we armed the circuit we
turn on the voltage source and we filled chart 2.

Figure 4. Example of the connection with the voltmeter.

Schematic diagram Circuit in breadboard

Figure 5. Series circuit.

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 Practice 1: The use of the ohmmeter, voltmeter and ammeter

Chart 2. Measuring of volts.

Fuente Voltaje Voltaje Voltaje

de en R1 y en R1 en R2
voltaje R2
E= 1V 0.997 v 0.749 v 0.247 v
E= 2V 1.997 v 1.502 v 0.495 v
E= 3V 2.996 v 2.253 v 0.742 v
E= 4V 3.996 v 3.005 v 0.991 v
E= 5V 4.996 v 3.758 v 1.239 v
E= 6V 5.996 v 4.509 v 1.487 v
E= 7V 6.995 v 5.261 v 1.735 v
E= 8V 7.996 v 6.013 v 1.983 v
E= 9V 8.994 v 6.763 v 2.231 v
E= 10V 9.993 v 7.514 v 2.480 v
E= 11V 10.99 v 8.260 v 2.729 v
E= 12V 11.993 v 9.016 v 2.976 v

II.3. - Using the ammeter

In figure 6 is shown how to connect the ammeter for the measurement of a current.

Figure 6. Example of connection of the ammeter

Schematic diagram Circuit in breadboard

Figure 7. Parallel Circuit

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 Practice 1: The use of the ohmmeter, voltmeter and ammeter

We turned off the voltage source to build the circuit of Figure 7. Once armed, we turned the
voltage source to fill the chart 3.

Chart 3. Current measurement

Digital Multimeter
Voltage source Current through R1 Current through R1 Current through R2
and R2
E=1V 3.17 mA 1.8 mA 1.4 mA
E=2V 6.55 mA 3.6 mA 2.9 mA
E=3V 9.83 mA 5.4 mA 4.4 mA
E=4V 13.12 mA 7.24 mA 5.9 mA
E=5V 16.4 mA 9.05 mA 7.41 mA
E=6V 19.7 mA 10.8 mA 8.9 mA
E=7V 23 mA 12.7 mA 10.3 mA
E=8V 26.3 mA 14.5 mA 11.8 mA
E=9V 29.6 mA 16.3 mA 13.4 mA
E=10V 32.9 mA 18.19 mA 14.8 mA
E=11V 36.3 mA 20 mA 16.4 mA
E=12V 39.7 mA 21.8 mA 17.9 mA

III. - Questionnaire:

1. What is the characteristic of a series circuit?

The basic elements are connected one to each other.
2. What is the characteristic of a parallel circuit?
The basic elements are connected between two common points.
3. What is the difference between an analog meter and digital?
The analog meter has a prompter needle that moves over a scale and the digital shows a
series of digits in the display indicating the magnitude.
4. Why and ammeter doesn’t have to be connected in parallel?
That would generate a short circuit in the measuring instrument.
5. Why it must be de-energize the circuit when a resistance is measured in the electrical
circuit?
So the result is not altered.

IV. - Conclusions:

Without the use of multimeter, the voltage measurement would not be correct and would be very
difficult to know the exact values. During practice we learned how to properly use the multimeter
for measurements of current, voltage and resistance in the circuits we put together. Learning how
to use the multimeter well for future practice is vital for the course, for that reason this practice is
of mayor importance.