2021

Familiarization on the use

of Basic Electrical
Measuring Instruments

LABORATORY EXERCISE 1
PROFESSOR: ENGR. EUFEMIA A. GARCIA

PAMANTASAN NG LUNGSOD NG MAYNILA | Intramuros, Manila

Experiment No. 1
FAMILIARIZATION ON THE USE OF BASIC ELECTRICAL MEASURING INSTRUMENTS

OBJECTIVES:
1. To be familiarized with the basic electrical measuring equipment so the equipment can be
operated in a safe and controlled manner.
2. To know how to use the instruments in performing basic DC measurements.
3. To understand how resistor current and voltage are measured using the digital multimeter.

MATERIALS:
 BREAD BOARD
 CONNECTING WIRES (aka - JUMPER WIRES, SOLID COPPER WIRES)
 RESISTORS
o 500 OHMS
o 1000 OHMS
o 200 OHMS
 VOLT-OHM METER / MULTITESTER
 LED (ANY COLOR)
 VARIABLE DC SUPPLY
 ALLIGATOR CLIPS

DISCUSSION OF THEORY:
Electric circuits refers to the assemblage of devices needed to connect the source of energy to
the user or the device which exploits it. Electric circuit theory consists of three main components:
voltage, load, and conductors. The product of voltage and current yields power. Power can either be
positive or negative. It depends on the direction and the polarity to determine if it supplies or absorbs
energy in a circuit.

PROCEDURE:
1. CREATE OR CONSTRUCT THE CIRCUIT SHOWN BELOW:
 2. CONNECT THE VARIABLE DC SUPPLY IN SERIES WITH A RESISTOR (USE THE 200 OHM FIRST) AND
AN LED.

MEASURING VOLTAGE:
3. SET THE DC SUPPLY TO 3 VOLTS.
4. TURN ON THE DC SUPPLY AND IT WILL LIGHT UP THE LED
5. TURN ON THE MULTITESTER AND SET IT TO MEASURE VOLTS.
6. CHECK THAT THE PROBES ARE CONNECTED TO THE + (RED) INTERFACE OF THE VOLT METER
AND TO THE – (BLACK) INTERFACE OF THE VOLTMETER.
7. USING THE TIP OF THE PROBES, TAP OR CONNECT ONE PROBE TO ONE TERMINAL OF THE
RESISTOR AND THE OTHER PROBE TO THE OTHER TERMINAL OF THE RESISTOR, AS SHOWN IN
THE PICTURE BELOW.

8. NOTE THAT THE POSITIVE PROBE IS CONNECTED FACING THE POSITIVE SIDE OF THE SOURCE
AND THE NEGATIVE PROBE IS TAPPED/CONNECTED FACING THE NEGATIVE SIDE OF THE DC
SOURCE.
9. GET THE VOLTAGE READING AND TAKE NOTE OF THE VALUE.
10. REPEAT STEPS 3 TO 9 USING THE 500 OHM AND 1000 OHM RESISTOR.

RESISTOR MEASURE MEASURED MEASURED MEASURED MEASURED MEASURED

VALUE D VOLTAGE VOLTAGE VOLTAGE VOLTAGE VOLTAGE
(OHMS) VOLTAGE (GREEN) (IR) (RED) (YELLOW) (ORANGE)
(BLUE)
200 10.924 mV 976.612 mV 1.235 V 1.235 V 1.235 V 979.612 mV
500 23.294 mV 1.046 V 1.281 V 1.281 V 1.281 V 1.046 V
1000 38.376 mV 1.096 V 1.315 V 1.315 V 1.315 V 1.096 V

MEASURING CURRENT:
11. USING THE SAME CIRCUIT DIAGRAM, MEASURE THE CURRENT FLOWING THROUGH THE CIRCUIT
12. OPEN THE CLOSE-LOOP CIRCUIT, AS SHOWN BELOW
13. NOTICE THAT THE TERMINAL OF THE RESISTOR IS DISCONNECTED TO THE TERMINAL OF THE
LED.
14. TURN ON THE DC SUPPLY.
15. OBVIOUSLY, THE LED WILL NOT LIGHT UP.
16. TURN ON THE MULTITESTER AND SET IT TO MEASURE CURRENT (AMPERES).
17. CHECK THAT THE PROBES ARE CONNECTED TO THE + (RED) INTERFACE OF THE AMMETER AND
TO THE – (BLACK) INTERFACE OF THE AMMETER.
18. USING THE TIP OF THE PROBES, TAP OR CONNECT ONE PROBE TO OPEN TERMINAL OF THE
RESISTOR AND THE OTHER PROBE TO THE OPEN TERMINAL OF THE LED, AS SHOWN IN THE
PICTURE BELOW.
19. OPEN TERMINAL MEANS THAT THE TERMINAL OF A CIRCUIT ELEMENT IS NOT CONNECTED.

20. ONCE THE TWO PROBES ARE CONNECTED, YOU WILL NOTICE THAT THE LED WILL LIGHT UP.
AND CURRENT WILL BE MEASURED BY THE MULTI-TESTER.
21. NOTE THAT THE POSITIVE PROBE IS CONNECTED FACING THE POSITIVE SIDE OF THE SOURCE
AND THE NEGATIVE PROBE IS TAPPED/CONNECTED FACING THE NEGATIVE SIDE OF THE DC
SOURCE.
22. GET THE CURRENT READING AND TAKE NOTE OF THE VALUE.
 23. REPEAT STEPS 11 TO 22 USING THE 500 OHM AND 1000 OHM RESISTOR.

RESISTOR MEASURED MEASURED MEASURED MEASURED MEASURED MEASURED

VALUE CURRENT CURRENT CURRENT CURRENT CURRENT CURRENT
(OHMS) (BLUE) (GREEN) (IR) (RED) (YELLOW) (ORANGE)
200 54.621 uA 4.898 mA 6.176 mA 6.176 mA 6.176 mA 4.898 mA
500 48.589 uA 2.092 mA 2.562 mA 2.562 mA 2.562 mA 2.092 mA
1000 38.376 uA 1.096 mA 1.315 mA 1.315 mA 1.315 mA 1.096 mA

OBSERVATIONS:
24. WHAT DID YOU OBSERVE WHEN MEASURING VOLTAGE AND CURRENT?
- When measuring the voltage and the current, the color of the LED affects the voltage
value and current value. Same voltage and current values for green and orange LED
and same voltage and current values for ir, red, and yellow LED. The color blue LED
has a different values among the 5 colors.

25. REVERSE THE TAPPING OF THE PROBE, OPPOSING THE PROCEDURE AS GIVEN IN THE ABOVE
PICTURES.

26. WHAT ARE THE RESULTS? WHAT DID YOU NOTICE ON THE VALUES MEASURED WHEN THE
PROBES ARE REVERSED? WHY? EXPLAIN.
- When the tapping of the probes were reversed, the readings in the multimeter simply
becomes negative. If the red probe touches a node with higher potential than the
black probe, it will read a positive number. However if the black probe touches the
node with higher potential, it will result to a negative number.

27. USING OHM’S LAW, COMPUTE THE VOLTAGE ACROSS THE RESISTOR AND THE CURRENT
FLOWING THROUGH THE CIRCUIT. COMPARE THE COMPUTED VALUES VERSUS THE MEASURED
VALUE. EXPLAIN THE RESULTS.

RESISTOR VALUE MEASURED MEASURED COMPUTED COMPUTED

(OHMS) VOLTAGE CURRENT VOLTAGE CURRENT
200 979.612 mV 4.898 mA 0.9796 V 0.00489806 A
500 1.046 V 2.092 mA 1.046 V 0.002092 A
1000 1.096 V 1.096 mA 1.096 V 0.001096 A
RESISTOR VALUE MEASURED MEASURED COMPUTED COMPUTED
(OHMS) VOLTAGE CURRENT VOLTAGE CURRENT
 200 1.235 V 6.176 mA 1.2352 V 0.006175 A
500 1.281 V 2.562 mA 1.281 V 0.002562 A
1000 1.315 V 1.315 mA 1.315 V 0.001315 A
RESISTOR VALUE MEASURED MEASURED COMPUTED COMPUTED
(OHMS) VOLTAGE CURRENT VOLTAGE CURRENT
200 10.924 mV 54.621 uA 10.9242 V 0.00005462 A
500 23.294 mV 48.589 uA 24.2945 V 0.000046588 A
1000 38.376 mV 38.376 uA 38.376 V 0.00003876 A

DATA AND RESULTS:

RESISTOR VALUE MEASURED

(OHMS) CURRENT
(ORANGE)
200 4.898 mA
500 2.092 mA
1000 1.096 mA
 RESISTOR MEASURED
VALUE (OHMS) VOLTAGE
(ORANGE)
200 979.612 mV
500 1.046 V
1000 1.096 V
ANALYSIS:
- In the given circuit, the multimeter is used to measure the voltage and the current. The
value of the power dc supply is 3V. The resistor is in 200, 500, and 1000 ohms. The voltage,
in V, and current, in A, differs depending on the color of the LED used in the circuits. Colors
orange and green are the same and colors ir, red, and yellow are the same. Only the blue
LED differs from the rest. In measuring the voltage and current, the probes must be
connected properly so that the values to be obtained are accurate. If the probes aren’t
connected properly, negative value will appear.

CONCLUSION:
- The experiment is about the familiarization on the basic electrical measuring instruments.
The application used to be familiarized is the multisim. At first, I had a hard time in
navigating the application since it’s new to me and I haven’t used it before. However, after
several minutes, I got the hang of it and I enjoyed using and exploring the electrical
measuring equipment found within it. The given circuit is a direct current because it remains
constant with time. In the given circuit, the voltage and the current is asked to be measured.
After conducting the experiment, I therefore conclude that resistor current and voltage are
measured using the digital multimeter. One must select the resistance and its value, dc
power source, led and the ground so that it will run. If there is no ground, the circuit will not
run. The voltage and current are measured by connecting the probes to the terminal ends.
The connecting of the probes must be done correctly because the direction varies.

28. SAVE THE FILE IN THIS FORMAT: GarciaEA_<DOCUMENT FILE NAME>_ANSWER

29. SAVE THE FILE IN PDF FORMAT and WORD DOCS FORMAT.

QUESTIONS/PROBLEMS:
1. LABEL OR SKETCH THE INTERNAL DIAGRAM OF THE FOLLOWING:
A. DC voltmeter
B. DC ammeter

C. Ohmmeter

2. AN ANALOG AMMETER AND VOLTMETER OF SUITABLE RANGES ARE TO BE USED TO MEASURE

THE CURRENT AND VOLTAGE OF AN ELECTRIC LAMP. IF A MISTAKE WAS MADE AND THE
METERS WERE INTERCHANGED, WHAT WILL HAPPEN?
- If a mistake was made and the meters were interchanged, the meter will explode. It will
explode for the reason that an analog ammeter is used to measure the ampere and
voltmeter is used to measure the voltage. If it were interchanged, the ammeter will
explode because it has a very low resistance while a voltmeter has high resistance on
electricity. If voltmeter will be used instead of ammeter, the results will not be accurate.

3. WHAT IS THE RELATIVE RESISTANCE OF A GOOD AMMETER? A GOOD VOLTMETER? EXPLAIN

WHY.
- The relative resistance of a good ammeter is that it must have zero internal resistance
so that little amount of voltage as possible as current flows through it. On the other
hand, a good voltmeter should have high resistance so that the current cannot pass
through it.

4. SOME TYPES OF FUSES USED TO PROTECT ELECTRIC METERS HAVE RESISTANCES OF SEVERAL
OHMS. IS THIS OBJECTIONABLE IN (a) AMMETER CIRCUITS (b) VOLTMETER CIRCUITS? WHY?
- Ammeter circuits needs fuses to protect electric meters while voltmeter doesn’t need
fuses to protect electric meters. The circuits of an ammeter has a low internal resistance
that’s why it fuses are needed so that it won’t resist sudden large currents. The circuits
of a voltmeter has a high resistance. It can resist sudden high currents.

5. HOW DO WE READ THE VALUES OF RESISTORS USING COLOR CODING? DISCUSS.

 - There are different kinds of resistors. It is available in many different values, shapes, and
physical sizes. Almost all leaded resistors that has the power rating up to one watt has a
pattern of colored bands. The colors are used to indicate the resistance value, tolerance
and the temperature coefficient. The first few bands represents the resistance value.
There is a multiplier band to signify the moving decimal right or left. And the last band
represents the tolerance and the temperature.
-

Self-Test. Tick the right answer.

1. What is the color code for a 4.7K ohm resistor with 5% tolerance?
a. ☐Yellow-violet-orange-gold
b. ☐Yellow-blue-red-gold
c. ☐Green-violet-red-gold
d. ☒Yellow-violet-red-gold
2. What is the nominal resistance of a resistor with color code brown-green-black-silver?
a. ☐25 ohm
b. ☒15 ohm
c. ☐160 ohm
d. ☐150 ohm
3. What is the color code for a 560K ohm resistor with 10% tolerance?
a. ☐Blue-violet-yellow-silver
b. ☐Green-blue-orange-silver
c. ☒Green-blue-yellow-silver
d. ☐Blue-green-orange-silver
4. What is the nominal resistance of a resistor with color code orange-white-brown?
a. ☒390 ohm
b. ☐39 ohm
c. ☐380 ohm
d. ☐480 ohm
5. What is the color code for a 22 ohm resistor with 20% tolerance?
a. ☐Red-red-brown
b. ☐Orange-orange-black
c. ☒Red-red-black
d. ☐Orange-orange-brown
 6. What is the maximum value in the tolerance range of a resistor with color code red-violet-orange-
gold?
a. ☐32.4K ohm
b. ☐28.35K ohm
c. ☒27K ohm
d. ☐29.7K ohm
7. What is the minimum value in the tolerance range of a resistor with color code brown-red-brown?
a. ☐144 ohm
b. ☒114 ohm
c. ☐96 ohm
d. ☐108 ohm
8. What is the maximum value in the tolerance range of a resistor with color code blue-gray-green-
silver?
a. ☐7.14M ohm
b. ☒6.12M ohm
c. ☐7.48M ohm
d. ☐8.16M ohm

Show your
solutions
DOCUMENTATION/PICTURES OF ACTUAL IMPLEMENTATION:
30. DESCRIPTION OF PICTURE TO PROVE THAT THE VALUES REFLECTED ON THE TABLE ARE THE
ACTUAL VALUES MEASURED DURING IMPLEMENTATION.

A. Measuring volatage

Figure 1. Orange LED – 200 ohms Figure 2. Orange LED – 500 ohms

Figure 3. Orange LED – 1000 ohms Figure 4. Green LED – 200 ohms

Figure 5. Green LED – 500 ohms Figure 6. Green LED – 1000 ohms

Figure 1-3 shows the voltage values of orange LED. Figure 4-6 shows the voltage values of
green LED. Orange and green LEDs have the same voltage values for 200, 500 and 1000 ohms.
 Figure 7. Blue LED – 200 ohms Figure 8. Blue LED – 500 ohms

Figure 7-9 shows the voltage values of

blue LED in 200, 500, and 1000 ohms.

Figure 9. Blue LED – 1000 ohms

Figure 10. IR LED – 200 ohms Figure 11. IR LED – 500 ohms

Figure 12. IR LED – 1000 ohms Figure 13. Red LED – 200 ohms

Figure 14. Red LED – 500 ohms Figure 15. Red LED – 1000 ohms
 Figure 16. Yellow LED – 200 ohms Figure 17. Yellow LED – 500 ohms

Figure 18. Red LED – 1000 ohms

Figure 10-12 shows the voltage values of IR LED. Figure 13-15 shows the voltage values of red
LED. Figure 16-18 shows the voltage values of yellow LED. IR, red, and yellow LEDs have the
same voltage values for 200, 500 and 1000 ohms.

B. Measuring current

Figure 19. Orange LED – 200 ohms Figure 20. Orange LED – 500 ohms

Figure 21. Orange LED – 1000 ohms Figure 22. Green LED – 200 ohms
 Figure 23. Green LED – 500 ohms Figure 24. Green LED – 1000 ohms
Figure 19-21 shows the current values of orange LED. Figure 22-24 shows the current values of
green LED. Orange and green LEDs have the same voltage values for 200, 500 and 1000 ohms.

Figure 25. Blue LED – 200 ohms Figure 26. Blue LED – 500 ohms

Figure 26. Blue LED – 1000 ohms

Figure 27. IR LED – 200 ohms Figure 28. IR LED – 500 ohms

Figure 29. IR LED – 1000 ohms Figure 30. Red LED – 200 ohms
Figure 31. Red LED – 500 ohms
Figure 32. Red LED – 1000 ohms

Figure 33. Yellow LED – 200 ohms Figure 34. Yellow LED – 500 ohms

Figure 35. Yellow LED – 1000 ohms