DC Power Supply and Multimeters

Let us suppose you are asked to build a circuit in Fig. 2.1, then to measure the
resistance of each resistor, the voltage across each resistor, and the current flowing
through the circuit.

Fig. 2.1 A circuit with two

50 Ω resistors and one 6 V
voltage source

First, we will need to get two 50 Ω resistors. For the voltage source, we will be
using a DC power supply, a device that can provide electrical power with
specifications on voltage and current. To connect the circuit, we will need a
breadboard and some wires. A breadboard, also known as a prototype board, is a
board with existing internal connections that is used for building circuits. The
breadboard we will be using in this example is a solderless breadboard, which
contains holes for plugging in the terminals of the components.
Figure 2.2 illustrates the breadboard’s internal connections, which can be thought
of as wires connecting the holes. The middle two columns of the breadboard are
connected horizontally, but not across the notch between these two columns. The
outer two columns, also known as the power rails, of the breadboard are connected
vertically and are typically used to connect to the power supply. By convention, the
red column connects to the positive terminal, while the blue column connects to the
negative terminal.
The final circuit for Fig. 2.1 is shown in Fig. 2.3. You will need to set up the DC
power supply by setting the voltage to the voltage you want to supply, which is 6 V

# The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021 9

G. L. Zeng, M. Zeng, Electric Circuits,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-60515-5_2
10 2 DC Power Supply and Multimeters

Fig. 2.2 A breadboard is shown on the left and its internal connections are shown on the right

To power supply RED (+)

DC Power Supply
50
V
A
- GND + - + - GND +
5V fixed
50

To power supply BLACK (-)

Fig. 2.3 The circuit from Fig. 2.1 is built on the board and connected to the DC power supply

in this example. For circuit protection, you should also set a limit for the current,
which will vary depending on the circuit.
In some cases, we need to use more than one DC power supply in a circuit, like in
Fig. 2.4. One possible way to build the circuit in Fig. 2.4 is shown in Fig. 2.5.
Your power supply panel layout may be different from the example here, so be
sure to read the instructions before you connect your circuit to the power. As an
example, we can build the circuit of Fig. 2.4 with a different kind of power supply as
shown in Fig. 2.6.
Now that we have built a circuit, let us measure the voltage across a resistor using
a multimeter, which is a device that can measure voltage, current, and resistance.
There are two types of multimeters: hand-held digital multimeters and desktop
digital multimeters, which can be seen in Figs. 2.7 and 2.8. No matter which type of
2 DC Power Supply and Multimeters 11

Fig. 2.4 A circuit with three

50 Ω resistors and two DC
power supplies

DC Power Supply
50
V
A
- GND + - + - GND + 50
5V fixed

50

Fig. 2.5 The circuit from Fig. 2.4 is built on the board and connected to two of the three outputs
from a DC power supply

multimeter you are using, you must plug two probes into two of the proper ports of
the multimeter unit in order to use it.
To measure the voltage across a resistor, you select the DC voltage measurement
mode by pushing the button labeled as “DC V,” connect the “Input V HI” (or “V” if
the label is just “V”) to one end of the resistor of interest, and connect the “LO”
(or “COM” if the label is “COM” in your multimeter) to the other end of the resistor.
This allows you to use the multimeter as a voltmeter, which measures the voltage
across two points in a circuit. When you make the measurement, you must leave the
power on. You can also use the voltmeter to measure the voltage across the power
source, with “Input V HI” to one terminal of the power supply and “LO” to the other
terminal.
Figures 2.9 and 2.10 show the setup for measuring voltage across the second
resistor in the circuit from Fig. 2.4.
To measure the current, depending on your multimeter, you may need to push a
button to select the DC current measurement mode, then follow the steps shown in
Fig. 2.11. This allows you to use the multimeter as an ammeter, which measures the
current through its two terminals. If you would like to measure the current through a
resistor, never connect the ammeter across the resistor or across a source! You must
first disconnect the circuit at a certain point. A correct connection is shown in
Figs. 2.12 and 2.13. If you make a mistake, you may send too much current through
the ammeter and blow the fuse.
12 2 DC Power Supply and Multimeters

Fig. 2.6 The circuit of Fig. 2.4 is powered by a different kind of DC power supply

Fig. 2.7 A hand-held digital

multimeter


V A

V A
OFF

V

A COM

Finally, to measure the resistance of a resistor, you must remove the resistor from
the circuit and measure it when the meter is at the resistance measurement mode as
shown in Fig. 2.14. You may need to adjust the range to get better precision.
2 DC Power Supply and Multimeters 13

Push this button before making the measurement

Connect to one
end of the resistor
Input
VΩ HI

LO
DC V DC I Ω
I
AC V AC I Connect to the
Digital Multimeter
other end of the resistor

Fig. 2.8 Use of a desktop digital multimeter to measure the voltage across a resistor

50
V HI

LO
50

Fig. 2.9 Breadboard setup to measure voltage across a resistor

Fig. 2.10 Circuit representation of Figure 2.9, where the component with a “V” is the voltmeter

Input
V HI

LO
DC V DC I 
I Insert into the
AC V AC I
Digital Multimeter circuit

Push this button

Fig. 2.11 Use of a desktop digital multimeter to measure current

14 2 DC Power Supply and Multimeters

Fig. 2.12 Breadboard setup

to measure current through the
circuit

Fig. 2.13 Circuit

representation of Fig. 2.12,
where the component with an
“A” is the ammeter

Input
VΩ HI
R
LO
DC V DC I Ω
I
AC V AC I
Digital Multimeter

Push this button

Fig. 2.14 To measure the resistance, connect a resistor across “Input Ω HI” and “LO”

Notes
To measure the voltage between two points, you can simply connect one probe
to one point and the other probe to the other point. Be sure that the multimeter
is at DC V voltage setting.
To measure the current at one point in the circuit, you must disconnect the
circuit at that point and then insert the two probes of the multimeter there to
re-connect the circuit.
To measure the resistance of a resistor, you need to remove the resistor
from the circuit. You can disconnect at least one end of the resistor from the
circuit. Never attempt to measure the resistance while the power of the circuit
is on, and both ends of the resistor are still connected in the circuit.
Exercise Problems 15

Exercise Problems

Problem 2.1 You are given a power supply and a circuit schematic shown. Suggest
three ways to connect the power supply to the 1 kΩ resistor.

Fig. P2.1

Problem 2.2 Identify the mistakes in using a multimeter.

(a) Trying to measure the voltage across the power supply.

Fig. P2.2
16 2 DC Power Supply and Multimeters

Fig. P2.3

(b) Trying to measure the current through the resistor.

Fig. P2.4

(c) Trying to measure the resistance of the resistor.

Solutions to Exercise problems are given in Book Appendix.