Physical Sciences and Engineering

Programme/Physics/ 
Lab-Practical 7 Revised for 2020 
 
 

Instructions 
 Listen carefully to instructions from the staff members and you should stop
immediately if asked to do so. 
 You should work safely at all the time and wear appropriate clothing and safety
equipment. 
 If you need help or any additional equipment raise your hand up. 
 Scientific Calculators are allowed. 
 Dictionaries (except electronic ones) are allowed. 
 Before you do your practical your teacher will explain what you are going to do and
might carry out a demo- you are advised to listen carefully and take notes. 
 Your teacher will tell you the deadline to submit your lab- report. 
 Your lab-report should be submitted through Turnitin. 

Information to candidates 
 Only use this paper to prepare your lab-report which should be done electronically and
submitted through Turnitin. Graphs or diagrams must be done by hand and then scanned
for submission. The originals MUST be submitted to your Tutor. 
 Your Tutor can provide you with graph paper if required. 
 
 
 
 

Aim:  To determine the emf (electromotive force) of a cell and its

internal resistance. 
Theory: 
Cells convert chemical energy into electrical energy.   
The EMF (electromotive force) of a battery is defined as  
The energy converted into electrical energy when unit charge passes through the
source.  
It is a voltage and reflects the total energy that can be supplied to a circuit.  EMF is
a voltage – it is the terminal voltage of the battery when there is no current flowing. 
Internal Resistance  
All batteries / cells lose energy as heat when they are giving out a current due to their
internal resistance.  
In this circuit the voltmeter reads the emf, E. 
  
If a resistor is added to the circuit the reading on the voltmeter drops to V, this is
because not all of the voltage is being transferred to the circuit, some of it has been
‘lost’ due to the internal resistance of the battery (The energy is converted to heat) 

 
  Emf = Useful volts  +   Lost volts  
  In code:  E = V + v 
So we can redraw the circuit as: 

 
So our cell is now a perfect cell in series with an internal resistor, r.   
This is just like series circuit containing two resistors, where the same current, I, lows all
the way round and the voltages across the individual resistors add up to the voltage of
the cell.   
            Emf = voltage across R + voltage across the internal resistance  
    E  =         V                        +                   v  
From Ohm’s Law V = I R and v = I r 
E = IR + I r = I (R + r) =       E = V + I r 
Procedure: 
SWITCH OFF OR DISCONNECT THE BATTERY BETWEEN READINGS 
 Set up a circuit with the battery, ammeter and resistor in series. Connect a
voltmeter to measure the potential difference in Volts / V across the cell
terminals. Make a note of this for use when discussing the outcome of the experiment. 
 Record on your results table the reading on the voltmeter – the terminal p.d., in
Volts / V and the current in Amps / A in the circuit with the variable resistor at one end. 
 Shift the variable resistor to a different position and take readings.  
 This must be repeated for 10 different positions on the variable resistor.  
 You may want to repeat experiments for accuracy. 
 Record the precision of the meters. 
 
  
Basic Results Table 
It is expected that you will add extra columns to this to accommodate an appropriate
number of repeats of the experiment and any appropriate calculated data e.g. mean
values  
Variable resistor Terminal p.d. / V  Current / A 
positions  
1     
2     
3     
4     
Graph Required 
Current / A – X axis 
Terminal p.d. / V – Y axis 
 
This is a very basic explanation of the procedure – you will need to research the
experiment in more detail and plan what you intend to do and what results you
intend to take and how you will manipulate them carefully before you start to do
the experiment.  
You are expected to use the skills that you have learnt in your SKILLS FOR
ENGINEERING lessons including  
 Experimental planning 
 Carrying out Experiments 
 Analysing data 
 Constructing Graphs 
 Identifying sources of error 
 Writing up Laboratory Reports 
 

 
 
 
WRITE UP YOUR LAB REPORT 
Video Links: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5Ct3QiFZnM 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoxDlu0kswQ&feature=emb_rel_pause 

Results: You will need to draw this table in a clearer way for your results section  
Variable 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10 
resistor
positions 
Current Trial                    
1  0.13  0.48  0.81  0.63  0.25  0.34  0.15  0.18  0.06  0.09 
Trial 2  0.13  0.49  0.82  0.62  0.25  0.33  0.15  0.18  0.06  0.09 
Trial 3  0.13  0.47  0.80  0.62  0.25  0.33  0.15  0.18  0.06  0.09 
Trial 4  0.13  0.48  0.82  0.79  0.25  0.33  0.15  0.18  0.06  0.09 
Trial 5  0.13  0.48  0.79  0.62  0.25  0.33  0.15  0.18  0.06  0.09 
Average I                   
   
Voltage                     
Trial 1  1.35  1.08  0.82  0.95  1.20  1.13  1.26  1.24  1.32  1.31 
Trial 2  1.34  1.07  0.81  0.94  1.20  1.13  1.26  1.24  1.33  1.31 
Trial 3  1.34  1.06  0.81  0.94  1.20  1.13  1.26  1.24  1.33  1.32 
Trial 4  1.34  1.07  0.81  1.20  1.19  1.12  1.26  1.24  1.33  1.30 
Trial 5  1.33  1.06  0.80  0.94  1.19  1.12  1.25  1.23  1.33  1.31 
Average V               
The theoretical EMF is expected to be 1.45V.