PEEE

Lab 1: Ohms Law

OBJECTIVE

• Determine Resistance values using color coding.

• Use an ammeter and voltmeter to measure current and voltage respectively.
• To verify Ohm’s law

APPARATUS

• Proteus Software
• Resistor
• Voltmeter
• DC Voltage Source
• Ammeter

THEORY
OHM’S LAW
Ohm’s Law tells us that the resistance of an object is proportional to the voltage applied to it
and inversely proportional to the induced current passing through it.
∆𝑉𝑉
𝑅𝑅 =
𝑖𝑖
A material is said to be Ohmic if the resistance of the material is independent of the applied
∆𝑉𝑉
voltage, meaning the ratio of 𝑖𝑖
is constant. However, a material is said to be non-Ohmic if its
∆𝑉𝑉
resistance varies for changes in the applied voltage, meaning the ratio of 𝑖𝑖
is not constant. The

equation Δ𝑉𝑉=𝑖𝑖𝑅𝑅 is sometimes referred to as Ohm’s Law, but only in cases where the resistance
is independent of the applied voltage. Ohm’s Law is not really a ‘law of nature’ but really just
a description of a subclass of materials. Even for these materials if the temperature is changed
enough the resistance will start to change for changes in the applied voltage.

Resistor Color Code

Resistors are devices that limit current flow and provide a voltage drop in electrical circuits.
Because carbon resistors are physically small, they are color-coded to identify their resistance
value in ohms. The use of color bands on the body of a resistor is the most common system for
indicating the value of a resistor. Color coding is standardized by the Electronic Industries
Association (EIA).

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Use the Resistor Color Code Chart (below) to understand how to use the color code system.
When looking at the chart, note the illustration of three round resistors with numerous color
code bands. The first resistor in the chart (with 4 bands) tells you the minimum information
you can learn from a resistor. The next (a 5-band code) provides a little more information about
the resistor. The third resistor (a 6-band) provides even more information. Each color band is
associated with a numerical value

How to read a typical 4-band, 5-band and 6-band resistor

4-Band: Reading the resistor from left to right, the first two color bands represent significant
digits, the third band represents the decimal multiplier, and the fourth band represents the
tolerance.
5-Band: The first three color bands represent significant digits, the fourth band represents the
decimal multiplier, and the fifth band represents the tolerance.

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6-Band: The first three color bands represent significant digits, the fourth band represents the
decimal multiplier, the fifth band represents the tolerance, and the sixth band represents the
temperature coefficient.

PROCEDURES

1. Determine the values and the tolerance of the color-coded resistors shown below.
Record your results in table 1.

Resistor 2
Resistor 1
2. Construct the circuit shown in Figure 2 in Proteus software with R equals the value of
the Resistor 1.
3. Initially set the D.C. power supply unit to 2V.
4. Measure the value of the current through the resistor and the voltage across the
resistor. Record the readings in Table 2.
5. Increase the value of supply voltage in 2V increments until 12 V, measuring the
current and voltage for each voltage. Recording the values in Table 2.
6. Repeat procedures 2 to 5 for Resistor 2 to complete Table 2.

Figure 2

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Analysis of Ohm’s Law Lab
Names: ______________________________________________
______________________________________________
______________________________________________
______________________________________________
Group#: ________
Course/Section: _______________________________________
Instructor: ____________________________________________

Table 1 (6 points)

𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅 1 𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅 2
𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅 (Ω)

𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇 (%)

Table 2 (20 points)

𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅 2
𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅 1

𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉 (𝑉𝑉) 𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶 (𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚) 𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉 (𝑉𝑉) 𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶 (𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚)

Questions
1. Determine the tolerance values of each resistor? What does these values represent? (6)

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2. Using Excel and the data for each resistor, plot 𝑉𝑉 𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣 𝑖𝑖 graph for each resistor. (15)

3. What is the value of the slope of each graph? What physical quantity does the slope
represent? (8 points)

4. Is the slopes constant? Is the material the resistors made from Ohmic or non-Ohmic?
(5)

5. State Ohms law. Did your experiments verify Ohm’s Law? Why or why not? (6)