EXPERIMENT 1 - PART A

OHM’S LAW FUNDAMENTALS

INTRODUCTION

This experiment contains one of the most important theoretical aspects of electronics,
namely the Ohm’s Law. This fundamental law states the relationship between circuit voltage,
current, and resistance.

During the experiment the student will;

 Examine theseriesandparallelcircuitsandprovetheOhm’slawby measurements.

 Calculate the total power dissipation in series and parallel circuits.

 Measure the resistance of a variable resistor and explain the operation of the device.

THEORY

Ohm’s Law

Historically, the direction of the current is determined to be the opposite of the electron flow.
Conventionally, the current moves from the positive side of the battery to the negative side in
a circuit, while the actual electric charge movement is from the negative side to the positive
side.

The potential difference (voltage) across an ideal conductor is proportional to the current
through it.The ratio of voltage to current is called the resistance, and if the ratio is constant
over a wide range of voltages, the material is said to be an "ohmic" material.In this exercise
we will explore the control of electrical current by applied voltage and the circuit resistance.
The Ohm's Law formula can be stated as;

I=V/R,

where I = current in Amps, V = voltage in Volts and R = resistance in Ohms (Ω).

In a series circuit, the electric current has a single path. Each resistor in the series circuit will
use a portion of source voltage and this portion depends on the resistor. All voltage drops in
the series circuit will add together to be equal to the source voltage. The voltage drops can
be calculated by the use of Ohm's law. Itstates; V= IR.
In parallel circuits, as a result of the conservation of energy, the currents flowing in each
parallelbranch circuit must be added together to get the total current, IT. IT is the total amount
ofcurrent flowing from the source and through ALL the parallel branch circuits. Theindividual
branch currents are controlled by branch circuit resistances and the sourcevoltage. The law
for behavior of voltage in the parallel circuit is that all parallel branchcircuits have the same
voltage across them.

Electrical Power in Circuits

Electrical Power (P) in a circuit is the rate at which energy is absorbed or produced within a
circuit. A source of energy such as a voltage will produce or deliver power while the
connected load (resistor) absorbs it. Light bulbs and heaters for example, absorb electrical
power and convert it into either heat, or light, or both. The higher their value or rating in watts
the more electrical power they are likely to consume.

The quantity symbol for power is P and is the product of voltage multiplied by the current
with the unit of measurement being the Watt(W). It can be noted that prefixes can be used to
denote power such as milliwatts (mW = 10-3W) or kilowatts (kW = 103W).

Power can be calculated for an entire circuit by using the values of total current and total
voltage. Also, it can be calculated by using the values for individual currents and voltages on
different circuit elements. If power is calculated by using the values for individual resistors,
the power figures for each of the resistors are added together to find the total circuit power.
Obviously, thesetwodifferentmethodsforcalculatingthe power dissipated in a circuit should
give the same result. This is true for both series and parallel circuits. The power can be
found from the formula;

P=IV,

where P = power in Watts, I = current in Amps, V= voltage in Volts.

The Variable Resistor

Resistance is the opposition to current flow (movement of electrical charge). Theunit of

measure for resistance is the ohm, symbolized by Greek letter Ω(omega).

There are several types of variable resistors and the one that will be examined in detail is the
potentiometer (oftencalled a "pot"), which hasthree terminals as illustrated in Figure 1.1.

In a potentiometer, there is a resistive materialand a wiperwhich slidesalong the length of the

resistive material. There are three terminals of the device, which are denoted by A, W, and
B.The total device resistance is constant between the terminals A and B. When the wiper’s
position is changed by using the knob on the device, the sharing of the resistance between
the terminals A-W and W-B can be changed. This means that, the sum of the resistances
between A-W and W-B will always give the total resistance of the device.

Figure 1.1: The potentiometer.

Variable resistors are rated by their resistance, power rating, and the type of taper.The taper
is how the resistance varies over the length of element. If each equal distanceon the element
has the same resistance,the potentiometer is said to be "linear". However, for example, if the
first 1/8 ofthe element has 10 ohms, the second 1/8 has 20 ohms, the third 1/8has 30 ohms,
and so on, the device is “non-linear”. There are number of different non-linear tapers. The
mostcommon type is the audio taper. It is designated to cause a volume increase that
appears to theear to be the same for each equal increment of shaft rotation. The ear does
not hear equalchanges in audio power as equal changes in volume, because the ear is non-
linear. So, the volumecontrol must be "doctored" tomake it appearlinear.
 Table 1.1: 4 bandcolorcodetable. (Takenfrom www.electronicsforu.com)

Experiment 1A - Ohm’s Law Fundamentals

Equipment:

Bread Board

Multimeter

Power Supply (+12V)

Variable Resistor

Resistors

Procedure:

1. Take 3 differentresistancesbetween 1 kΩ and 10 kΩ

fromtheinstructorsanddiscovertheirvaluesfromthecolorcodes on them.
Usethecolorcodetableprovided. (3pt.)

R1 = …9.1k…….... Ω. R2=…1k…….... Ω. R3 =……2k..…... Ω.

2. Measuretheresistance of eachresistorwiththemultimeterandcalculatethe total resistance.

(4pt.)

R1 = ……9.108k….... Ω. R2=…0.9967k…….... Ω. R3 =…1.9930k…..…... Ω. RT

=……12.0977k…....… Ω.

3.Constructthecircuitshown in Figure 1.2usingtheseresistancevalues: R1 = 1kΩ, R2 = 2kΩ, R3

= 9kΩ. Make sure thepowersupplyoutput is +12 V.
 Figure 1.2
Figure 1.14 4. As shown in Figure 1.2, insert the ammeter in point A, turn the power on and measure the

current. (3pt.) Point A ……9.834*10^-4……..….A.

Similarly measure the currents at points B and C.

Point B ……9.834*10^-4…….… A and Point C ……9.834*10^-4…….……A.

5. Using the measured resistance and voltage values, calculate the circuit current. (1pt.)

IT = ………9.9*10^-4……..……A.

6. Observe that all the current measurements yield the same value. Explain the reason.
(2pt.)

…… All resistors are connected in series with each other.

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7. Measure the voltage accross each resistor in the same circuit.(3pt.)

VR1 = ……1.9765….…… V. VR2 = ……0.9886……….. V. VR3 = ……9.032….

………V.

Add these voltages together. The sum is …11.9971…….…….V.

8. Calculate the voltage drop across each resistor by using the formula V = IR. Use the
measured resistance values for R and the circuit current for I. (3pt.)
VR1 = …9.009……..……V. VR2 = …0.99……..….V. VR3 = …1.98……..…..V.

9. What is the result of adding the voltage drops together? (1pt.)

……… It gives the total voltage connected to the circuit.

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10. The definite relationship between resistance and the voltage drop across the resistor has
been observed. State the relationship that you obtain from your observations. (2pt.)

……… Each resistor uses the voltage in proportion to the

size of the resistor.
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11. Calculate the power and record it in Table 1.2. Don’t forget to write the units of each
value. (5pt.)

Measurements Calculations

VR1=…9.032V………… IR1=…9.9*10^-4A…………. PR1=8.994*10^-3W…………

VR2=…0.9886V………… IR2=…9.9*10^-4A…………. PR2=9.78*10^-4W……………

VR3=…1.9765V………… IR3=…9.9*10^-4A…………. PR3=1.96*10^-3W……………

VT=……11.997V………. IT=……9.9*10^-4A………… PT = ITVT =…

0.0118W………….
PT=PR1+ PR2+ PR3 =…
0.012W………..
Table 1.2
12. In the previous table you found total dissipated power by adding individual power figures
and then you found the total generated power by using total circuit figures. Observe that the
dissipated and generated powers in a series circuit are equal. (EQUAL)

Figure 1.3

14. Construct the circuit shown in Figure 1.3.

15. Measure the current through each resistor in the circuit. (3pt.)

IR1 = …5.425*10^-3…………..A IR2 = …12.020*10^-3…………...A IR3 = ……

11.993*10^-3…………..A

16. By using the Ohm’s Law ,calculate the current passing through each resistor in the
circuit. (3pt.)

IR1 = …5.45*10^-3…………..A IR2 = …0.012…………...A IR3 = ……

0.012…………..A

17. Calculate the circuit resistance by using the measured resistance values. (1pt.)

RT = …408.16…………..Ω

18. Calculate the total current (use RT and V). (1pt.) IT = …0.029………..A.

19. Measure the total circuit current. (1pt.) IT = …0.02945………..A.

20. Measure the voltage across each resistor in the same circuit. (3pt.)

VR1 = …11.969…………V. VR2 = …11.969……….V. VR3 = …11.969………..V.

21. Calculate the voltage drop across each resistor. Use measured current values. (3pt.)

VR1 = …11.935…………V. VR2 = …12.02……….V. VR3 = …11.993………..V.

22. What is the relationship between a resistance and the current in a branch of a
parallelcircuit? In other words, how current is distributed through each branch? (2pt.)

……… The current is distributed across the resistors

inversely proportional to the size of the resistors.
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23. Calculate the power and record it in Table 1.3. (5pt.)

Measurements Calculations

VR1=…11.969V………… IR1=……5.425*10^-3A………. PR1=…0.065W…………

VR2=…11.969V ………… IR2=…12.020*10^- PR2=…0.1438W…………

3A………….
VR3=…11.969V ………… IR3=…11.993*10^- PR3=…0.1435W…………
3A………….
VT=……11.969V ………. IT=…0.029A…………… PT = ITVT =…
0.3471W………….
PT=PR1+ PR2+ PR3 =…
0.3523W………..
 Table 1.3

24. In this part of the experiment, you again found total dissipated power by adding individual
power figures and then the total generated power by using total circuit figures. Observe that
the dissipated and generated powers in a parallel circuit are also equal. (EQUAL)

The Variable Resistor

25. Usetheohmmetertomeasurethe total resistancebetweenthe top terminal andthebottom

terminal of thepotentiometer. This is the total resistance of thepotentiometer. (3pt.)

RT = …992.2…….….Ω.

Measuretheresistancebetweencentral terminal and top terminal R1 = …0.9912k…..….….Ω,

andresistancebetweenthecentral terminal andbottom terminal R2 = …1……..….Ω.

26. Now, change R1and R2byrotatingthecontrolknobandmeasurethevalues. (2pt.)

R1 = …1.08…………….Ω R2 = ……1.03………………Ω.

27.Find the total resistance of thepotentiometer, (2pt.)

a) byaddingthemeasurements in step 25, RT = …992.2……………..Ω,

b) byaddingthemeasurements in step 26, RT = …1.11……………..Ω.

28. Comparetheresults in steps27aand27b. Explainifthere is anydifference. (2pt.)

…… The rate of change of resistance in adjustable resistors

is directly proportional to the length of the resistor.
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29. Connect theohmmeterbetweenthecentralandthe top terminal. Observethechange in

theohmmeterwhileslowlyrotatingthecontrollingknob on thepotentiometer.

30. How do youdeterminewhether a potentiometer is linearor not? (2pt.)

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31. Complete thegraphswiththeappropriatecurvesbelow. (3pt.)

SimulationPartwithplots:Youneedtoshowyourworkhere !
Addimagescontainingbothcircuitsandplotstotheend of thereport.

Pleaseseehttps://eecs.oregonstate.edu/education/docs/tutorials/LT
%20Spice_VarResistor.pdfforthispart of simulation.

32. Create a circuitthat has a 10V of sourceandtworesistors. Connect theseresistors in

parallel. Thefirstresistor has theresistance of 5 Ω, whereastheotherone is a variableresistor.
Thelimits of resistancemust be 1Ω and 100Ω withtheincrement of 1Ω. (Use step param
commandexplained in the link.) (5pt.)

33. PlotCurrentacrossresistorvsResistancegraphsforeachresistorin thesamepane. (10pt.)

What is Next on Experiment 1B?

34. List two uses of Wheatstone Bridge circuits briefly. (2pt.)

… The Wheatstone Bridge is used for measuring the very low resistance values
precisely. Wheatstone bridge along with operational amplifier is used to measure the
physical parameters like temperature, strain, light.
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