Experiment 1 Student’s Manual

American International University – Bangladesh (AIUB)

Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
EEE 1204: Electrical Circuits 1 (DC) Laboratory

Title: Familiarizing with the Basic DC Circuit Terms and Concepts, Introduction to
Laboratory Equipment and Simulation tool (Multisim).
Introduction:
This lab is designed to review, solidify & improve your understanding of DC circuits & ohms law.
Research has shown that even after students have completed their study of DC circuits, they often
have difficulty with some specific concepts and ideas. The exercises here are designed to address
these difficulties in a step by step fashion and help you learn to reason more easily & correctly
about circuits.
In each part of the lab, you will be given a circuit diagram, involving a power supply. You will be
asked to make some predictions about the behavior of the circuit before you actually construct the
circuit and make any necessary measurements. Hopefully, some of the circuits will surprise you
with behavior.
The purpose of this experiment is:
 To gain experience in building DC circuits and making measurements of current and
voltage.
 Strengthen the ability to reason about how adding or removing resistors will affect the
current & potential at different locations in a DC circuits.
Theory and Methodology:
Current: The amount of electric current (measured in Amperes) through some surface, e.g., a
section through a copper conductor, is defined as the amount of electric charge (measured in
coulombs) flowing through that surface over time. If Q is the amount of charge that passed
through the surface in the time t, then the average current I is:
= ⁄
Voltage: Voltage is the difference of electrical potential between two points of an electrical or
electronic circuit, expressed in volts. It measures the potential energy of an electric field to cause
an electric current in an electrical conductor. Depending on the difference of electrical potential
it is called extra low voltage, low voltage, high voltage or extra high voltage.
Resistance: The resistance of an electrical conductor is the opposition to the passage of an
electric current through that conductor. Electrical resistance shares some conceptual parallels
with the notion of mechanical friction. The SI unit of electrical resistance is the ohm (Ω).

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 Experiment 1 Student’s Manual

An object of uniform cross section has a resistance proportional to its resistivity and length and
inversely proportional to its cross-sectional area. All materials show some resistance, except for
superconductors, which have a resistance of zero.

The resistance (R) of an object is defined as the ratio of voltage across it (V) to current through
it (I):
= ⁄
Ohm's Law: Ohm's Law deals with the relationship between voltage and current in an ideal
conductor. This relationship states that: “At fixed temperature in an electrical circuit, the current
passing through a conductor between two points is proportional to the potential difference (i.e.
voltage drop or voltage) across the two points, and inversely proportional to the resistance
between them”. In mathematical terms, this is written as:
=
Where, I is the current in amperes, V is the potential difference in volts, and R is a constant,
measured in ohms, called the resistance.
Meters:
Voltmeter: Voltmeter is a device that is used to measure the voltage difference between two
points (Figure-1, 2). The potential difference can be measured by simply connecting the leads of
the across the two points.

Figure 1 Figure 2

Ammeter: Ammeter is a device that is used to measure the current level of the circuit (Figure-
3, 4). Since ammeters measures the flow of charge, the meter must place in the network such that
the charge will flow through the meter. Mistakenly placing the ammeter in parallel with a circuit
will blow the fuse, possibly damaging the meter and causing injury.

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 Experiment 1 Student’s Manual

Figure 3 Figure 4

Wattmeter: Wattmeter measures the power delivered by a source and to a dissipative element
(Figure-5).

Figure 5

Multimeter: Multimeter is a device used to measure voltage, resistance and current in electronics
and electrical equipment. It is also used to test continuity between to two points to verify if there
are any breaks in circuit or line. There are two types of multimeter: Analog and Digital. (a) Analog
has a needle style gauge (Figure-6); (b) Digital has a LCD display (Figure-7). The multimeter
contains probe (Figure-8) for measuring voltage and resistance in electrical testing applications.

Figure 6 Figure 7 Figure 8

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 Experiment 1 Student’s Manual

DC Voltage Sources: DC voltage sources can be divided into three broad categories: (a) batteries
(chemical action) (Figure-9), (b) generators (electromechanical) (Figure-10), and (c) power
supplies (rectification) (Figure-11).

Figure 9 Figure 10 Figure 11

Electrical Power Supply: Power supply (sometimes known as a power supply unit or PSU) is a
device or system that supplies electrical or other types of energy (Figure-11).
Breadboard: Breadboard is a reusable solder less device used to build a (generally temporary)
prototype of an electronic circuit and for experimenting with circuit designs (Figure-12, 13). This
is in contrast to strip board (veroboard) and similar prototyping printed circuit boards are used to
build more permanent prototypes or one-offs, and cannot easily be reused.
A breadboard can be divided in two functional areas:
o The power strips are horizontally connected (A and D).
o The component grids are vertically connected (B and C).

Figure 12 Figure 13

Circuit Breaker and Fuses: The incoming power to any installation or house or machinery must
be limited to ensure the current through the line is not above the rated value. Otherwise the
instrument may be damaged or serious hazards like fire or smoke nay result in. To limit the current
level circuit breakers and fuses are used. Fuses have an internal metallic conductor through which
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 Experiment 1 Student’s Manual

the current will pass; a fuse will melt if the current through the system exceeds the rated value
printed on the casing (Figure-14). If the fuse melts through, the current path is broken and the load
in its path is broken and the load in its path is protected.
Fuses have now been replaced by circuit breakers. In circuit breaker when the current exceeds
rated conditions an electromagnet in the device will have sufficient strength to draw the connecting
metallic link in the breaker out of the circuit and open the current path (Figure-15). When the
conditions have been corrected the breaker can reset and used again.

Figure 14 Figure 15

Resistance Color Coding: Resistance Color Coding is used to find the theoretical values of
different resistors. The following chart shows how to read this color code (Figure-16). If a resistor
with red, red, red and gold stripes, the nominal resistance value should be 2.2 KΩ. The gold stripe
indicates that it is a 5% tolerance resistor and can have an actual value of 2090 Ω to 2310 Ω.

Figure 16
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 Experiment 1 Student’s Manual

Introduction to NI Multisim:
NI Multisim is an electronic schematic capture and simulation program which is part of a
suite of circuit design programs, along with NI Ultiboard. Multisim is one of the few circuit
design programs to employ the original Berkeley SPICE based software simulation.
Multisim was originally created by a company named Electronics Workbench, which is
now a division of National Instruments. Multisim includes microcontroller simulation, as
well as integrated import and export features to the Printed Circuit Board layout software
in the suite, NI Ultiboard. Multisim is widely used in academia and industry for circuit’s
education, electronic schematic design and SPICE simulation.
Steps of Using NI Multisim:

First Look of the NI Multisim 11.0 (Figure-17):

Figure 17

1. Select the component (Figure-18)

Figure 18
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 Experiment 1 Student’s Manual

2. Click the Place Source Button and Place Resistor Button (Figure-19, 20)

Figure 19 Figure 20

3. Set the all components and draw the wire (Figure-21)

Figure 21

4. Double Click to the DC Power and Resistor to change the values of the components
(Figure- 22, 23)

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 Experiment 1 Student’s Manual

Figure 22 Figure 23

5. Save the file and run the simulation (Figure-24)

Figure 24

6. The simple circuit is complete now with proper result (Figure-25)

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 Experiment 1 Student’s Manual

Figure 25

Apparatus:

1. Trainer Board
2. Voltmeter
3. Ammeter
4. AVO meter or Multimeter
5. DC Source
6. Resistors

Precautions:

 When measuring voltage, the multi meter must be connected to two points in a circuit in
order to obtain a good reading. Be careful not to touch the bare probe tips together while
measuring voltage, as this will create a short-circuit!
 Never read Resistance or test for Continuity with a multi meter on a circuit that is
energized.
 When measuring current, the multi meter must be connected in a circuit so the electrons
have to flow through the meter
 Multi meters have practically no resistance between their leads. This is intended to allow
electrons to flow through the meter with the least possible difficulty. If this were not the
case, the meter would add extra resistance in the circuit, thereby affecting the current.

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 Experiment 1 Student’s Manual

Experimental Procedure and Calculation:

1. Calculate the values of the resistors using the color code chart theoretically. Then measure
the values using a Multimeter and complete data table 1.

Data Table 1:

Resistor Color Sequence Value Using Color code chart Value using Multimeter

R1

R2

R3

R4

R5

2. Construct the following circuit (Figure 26). Theoretically calculate RT (total resistance), I
(total Current), Vab, Vcd, Va and Vb. Again calculate the same quantities using the
multimeter and complete the table (Table 2) provided below.

R1
a b

E R2

Figure 261: Circuit schematic to perform the 2nd step of the experimental procedure

Data Table 2:

Theoretical Calculation Multimeter Readings

E
RT I Vab Vcd Va Vb I Vab Vcd Va Vb

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 Experiment 1 Student’s Manual

Report Questions:

1. Show the calculation for each resistor of table 1.

Discussion and conclusion:

Interpret the data/findings and the extent to which the experiment was successful in complying
with the goal that was initially set. Discuss any mistake you might have made while conducting
the investigation and describe ways the study could have been improved.
Reference:
[1] Robert L. Boylestad, “Introductory Circuit Analysis”, 13th Edition, Prentice Hall, New York.

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