Laboratory class 1: Basic instrumentations

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WE DIDN’T NOTE THE RESULTS OF THE CHARTS IN OUR LAB SHEET. WE GOT THE
RESULTS AND HANDED THEM IN WITH THE SHEET. IF SOME VALUES ARE WRONG
IT’S BECAUSE WE DON’T HAVE THE BEST MEMORY.

LABORATORY CLASS 1: BASIC INSTRUMENTATIONS.

1 GOAL

The goal of this laboratory class is to introduce the main equipment of an electric laboratory and to validate
some of the fundamental laws of the circuit theory.

2 EQUIPMENT AND MATERIAL

1 DC voltage source (with current limiter) (ISO-TECH IPS-3303)

1 Function generator (ISO-TECH GFG-8255A)
2 Digital multimeter (ISO-TECH IDM-73; ESCORT EDM-1341)
1 10 , 5 W Resistor
2 100 Ω, 2W Resistors
1 390 , 2W Resistor 1
180 Ω, 2W Resistor
1 270 Ω, 2W Resistor
1 120 Ω, 2W Resistor
1 220 Ω, 2W Resistor
1 100nF, 100 V capacitor
1 Inductor with a removable iron core, 100-500 mH, 14-15 Ω

3 TASK DESCRIPTION

(L) ≡ Laboratory, (FR) ≡ Final report

3.1 ONE LOOP CIRCUIT

Consider the following circuit:

E 10 V R1 100  R2  390  R3 180 

Figure 1.1

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The goal of this set of experiments is to test the Kirchhoff voltage law (KVL), the Ohm's law and the
Joule's law.

1) (L) Measure the electrical resistance of each resistor and complete the following table.

Circuit scheme 1

R1  100 R2 180 R3 390

Nominal resistance   
ohms ohms ohms
Tolerance 5 % 5 % 5 %

Admissible range R195 ,105  R2171 ,189  R3371 ,409 

Measured resistances R1  99,2  R2  178,3  R3  388 

2) (FR) Explain the operating principle of the ohmmeter and justify the circuit connection proposed in
the circuit scheme 1.
The ohmmeter applies current to the circuit and then calculates the resulting intensity. With ohm’s law
the device is able to get the value of the resistor. In scheme 1 we connect the circuit in series because is
the most suitable to calculate what we want.

3) (FR) If a voltage source is connected to the resistor, it is possible to measure the electrical resistance
with the ohmmeter? Justify.
Yes we could. As long as the circuit makes sense, the presence of a voltage shouldn’t interfere with
the measures of the ohmmeter.

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4) (L) The voltage source, figure 1.2, has a current limiter to protect the devices from short-circuits. The
current limiter acts when the current delivered by the source is greater than the selected limit. Then,
the supplied voltage decreases in order to keep the delivered current at the limited value.

Figure 1.2: DC voltage source ISO-TECH IPS 3303

Set the voltage value of the source to 10V with a current limit value of 0.15A.

5) (L) In order to check the current limiter, let us to assemble the circuit 2 and 3, and measure both
the voltage across the resistor and the current through it.

R100  VR 9,87v V IR  0,1 A

Limited current YES NO

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R10  VR 1,433 V IR  0.145 A

Limited current YES NO

6) For this case (voltage value of the source to 10V with a current limit value of 0.15A), calculate the
maximum power that can supply the source and the lower resistance of the load that can be connected.

Rmín 66,6
Pmáx 1.5 W 
ohms

7) (FR) With a 2 Ω load, which is the voltage value supplied by the source if we set 10V and the current
is limited to 0.15A? Justify. The voltage value supplied is 0.3 volts. Because in order to have 0.15A
as our maximum, the only way to get the value is supplying 0.3 volts. 2ohms*0.15A=0.3 volts.

8) (L) The figure 1.1 with only R1 is shown in circuit 4. Measure the voltage across the source, the
voltage across the resistor and the current through the resistor.

10 V

VE 10,2 V V1  9,81 V I1 0,1 A

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9) (FR) Which is the relationship between the source and the resistor voltages? And between the voltage
across the resistor and the current flowing through it? The difference between the value of the voltage
source and the voltage of the resistance is due to the effect of the ammeter. It generates a little resistance
in the circuit. However, when it comes to the intensity, the values are always the same because our
circuit is in series.

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10) (L) Let us replace R1 by R2, see circuit 5. Measure the voltage across the source, the voltage across the
resistor and the current through the resistor).

Circuit scheme 5

VE  10,2 V V2  10,1 V I2 0,026 A

11) (L) Finally, replace R2 by R3, see circuit 6. Measure the voltage across the source, the voltage across
the resistor and the current through the resistor.

Circuit scheme 6

VE 10,2 V V3  9,98 V I3 0,056 A

12) 12) (FR) From the measured values, what we can say about the voltage and current supplied by the
source?
That the values of the voltages never change, even if we have different elements in the circuit. Whereas
the value of the current changes depending on the elements present in the circuit.

13) FR) From 8), 10) and 11), plot the relationship between voltages and currents V-I for the source and
the resistors and comment the obtained curves.
10,3
10,2 10,2 10,2
10,2
10,1
10,1

10 9,98
voltage 100
voltage 390
9,9
9,81 voltage 180
9,8

9,7

9,6
VE

The values are very similar, however we can note the difference created by the ammeter. As the ohms
rise, the difference is smaller.

14) (L) The figure 1.1 with resistors R1 and R2 is shown in circuit 7. Measure the voltage across the source
and the voltages and currents through the resistors.

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VE  10,2V V1 2 V I1  0,02A V2  8V I2 0,02 A

15) (FR) Which are the relationships between the source and resistor voltages? Give a topological law for
this result. The sum of both resistor voltages is equal to the source voltage. This happens because they
are in series and the voltage is distributed proportionally to the resistor values.

16) ) (FR) Which is the relationship between the currents through the resistors? Why?
That the current is the same in all the circuit. This is again because the circuit is in series. The way to
analytically calculate the value is by dividing the voltage by the sum of the values of both resistor.

17) (L) Set the voltage source at 20V. Measure again the voltage across the source and the voltages
and currents through the resistors.
VE 20,67 V V1 4 V I1 0,04 A V2 15,78 V I2 0,04 A

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18) (FR) From the measured values, what we can say about the voltage and current supplied by the source?

19) (FR) From 14) and 17), which physical law describes the relationship between the voltages and currents
in each resistor?

20) (L) The circuit from figure 1.1 with only the resistors R1 and R3 is shown in circuit 8. Measure the
voltage across the source and the voltages and currents through the resistors.

VE  V V1  V I1  A V3  V I3  A
21) (FR) From the obtained values, describe the relationship between the voltages across the resistors.

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22) (FR) From the results obtained in 14) and 20), find an equation to calculate the voltage across each
resistor. Give the well-known name of this equation.

23) (FR) From the measured values in 14), calculate the power supplied or consumed for each element and
complete the following table.

ELEMENT VOLTAGE (V) POWER (mW) GENERATOR/LOAD

R1

R2

 V  P
24) (L) Replace the resistor R2 by two resistors, R4 120  and R5  270 , in series, see circuit 9.
Measure the voltage across R1, the voltage acrossR4 and R5 , and the current through them.

V1  V V4 5  V I4 5  A

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25) (L) Set the voltage source at 20V and measure the voltage across R1 , the voltage across R4 and
R5 and the current through them.
V1  V V4 5  V I4 5  A
26) (FR) From the results obtained in 13), 16), 23) and 24), can we state that resistors R4 and R5 in series is
equivalent to resistor R2, for any operating point?

27) (L) The figure 1.1 with only resistor R1 and replacing R3 by a capacitor (C = 100nF) is shown in circuit
10. Measure the voltage across R1 the voltage across the capacitor and the current through the capacitor.

Figure 1.4: Capacitor 100 nF

V1  V VC  V IC  A
28) (FR) In this case, how does the capacitor behave?

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29) (L) Replace the capacitor by the inductor with the iron core, see circuit 11. Measure the voltage across
R1 , the voltage across the inductor and the current through the inductor.

V1  V VL  V IL  A
30) (FR) How does the inductor behave? Why the voltage across the inductor is different than zero?

31) (L) Remove the iron core (please, be careful, the iron core is extremely fragile) and measure again the
voltage and current through the inductor.
VL  V IL  A
32) (FR) In this case, how does the inductor behaves? Why the voltage across the inductor is different than
zero?

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33) (L) Replace the voltage source by a signal generator. Set a sinusoidal signal of 5V amplitude and
frequencies of 50, 100 and 200 Hz. Measure again the voltages and currents for the circuits 9), 10) and
11) (see the circuits 12a, 12b and 12c).

Figure 1.6: Signal generator ISO-TECH GFG-8255

f = 50 Hz f = 100 Hz f = 200 Hz

20) R3 180  IR3  A IR3  A IR3  A

27) C100 nF IC  A IC  A IC  A

29) Inductor with the iron core IL  A IL  A IL  A

31) Inductor without the iron core IL  A IL  A IL  A

34) (FR) How do the elements behave?

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35) (FR) Depict the current-frequency characteristic for R3, the capacitor C and the inductor (with and
without the iron core), and comment the obtained curves

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3.2 CIRCUIT WITH TWO ESSENTIAL NODES

Consider the following circuit:

J  150 mA RS  10 R1 100  R2  220  R3 100 

Figure 1.7

1) (L) The circuit from figure 1.7 with resistors RS and R1is shown in circuit 13. Set the voltage at 20V
and current limiter to 0.15A. With this configuration, the voltage source can act as a 0.15A current
source. Measure the current supplied by the source, and the voltage across the resistor and the current
through it.

IE  A I1  A V1  V
2) (FR) Describe the relationship between the current supplied by the source and the current through the
resistor, and the relationship between the voltage across the resistor and the current flowing through it.
3) (L) The circuit given in figure 1.7 without R3 is shown in circuit 14. Measure the current supplied by
the source, and the voltages across the resistors and the currents flowing through them. Check that the
current is limited to 0.15A.

IE  A I1  A V1  V I2  A V2  V
4) (FR) Describe the relationship among the measured currents. Give a topological law for this result.

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5) (FR) Which is the relationship between the voltages across the resistors R1 and R2? Why?
6) (L) The circuit in figure 1.7 without R2 is shown in circuit 15. Measure the current supplied by
the
source, and the voltages across the resistors and the currents flowing through them.

150 mA

IE  A I1  A V1  V I3  A V3  V

7) (FR) From the obtained results in 3), and 6), give the physical law that describes the relationship
between the voltage across a resistor and the current flowing through it.

That’s what we call the Ohm’s Law. The Intensity multiplied by the value of the resistor give the
voltage.

8) (FR) From the measure values obtained in 3) and 6), how is the current divided in each resistor?
The current is divided proportionally to the value of each resistor. A resistor with a higher value, has
less current flowing trough it. If one thinks about it is pretty obvious that if there is more resistance,
less current goes through and has to find another way to go, in this case the other resistor branch.

9) Find an equation for each resistor to calculate the current through it. Give the well-known name of
this circuit.

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In order to find the values of the current we have to take the voltage going trough it and then divide it by
its resistance. This is a circuit in parallel.

10) (L) Notice that the current through R1 decreases when R2 is replaced by R3. Finally, connect a
15V voltage source (with 0.5A current limitation) to the circuit as is shown in circuit 16. Measure the
current supplied by the source, the voltages across R1 and R3 and their currents. Check that the current
source is limited to 0.15A.

I1 I3
IE  0.158A A V1 15 V A V3 15 V
0.149 0.158
11) (L) Replace R3 by R2 and measure the current supplied by the source (see circuit 17), the voltages
across R1 and R2 and their currents. Check that the current source is limited to 0.15A.

12) (FR) Check if the current flowing through R1 has been modified when R3 was replaced by R2, and
comment this result.

In the previous circuit, the current changed proportionally when we switched resistors. However, in this
exercise this is different. The reason behind this fact is that the 15v source creates a mesh where the currents
are connected in series and therefore currents don’t need to be divided. In this case the current resulting
doesn’t have to sum up for the whole current but just obeys ohm’s law.

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IE  A I1  A V1  V I2  A V2  V

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