Electric Circuit Lab Manual Handout #1

Name
Reg. No
Date
Marks

EXPERIMENT NO. 1

INTRODUCTION TO LAB INSTRUMENT

Objectives:

1- To introduce the students to the basic electrical equipment in the lab.

2- To be able to deal with some of the frequently used equipment, like the digital
multimeter, breadboard, and DC Power supply.

Lab Equipment:

• DC Power Supply
• Breadboard
• DMM
• Oscilloscope
• Function Generator

General Laboratory Operating Procedures:

Listed below are the operating procedures that you are expected to follow in the

laboratory.

1. Please treat the instruments with care as they are very expensive.

2. Read the laboratory documentation prior to each lab meeting.

3. Follow the instructions carefully.

4. Return the components to the correct bin when you are finished with them.

5. Before leaving the lab place the stools under the lab bench.

6. Before leaving the lab, turn off the power to all instruments.

Digital Multimeter (DMM)

A DMM typically provides measurements for voltage, current, resistance, and may
include additional functions such as continuity testing, diode testing, and capacitance
measurement.

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To measure current, the circuit must be broken to allow the DMM to be connected in
series.

To measure voltage, DMM is connected in parallel.

To measure resistance, DMM does not function with a circuit connected to a power
supply. If you want to measure the resistance of a particular component, you must
take it out of the circuit altogether and test it separately. If you try this with the
component connected into a circuit with a power supply, the most likely result is that
the meter will be damaged. Most multi-meters have a fuse to help protect against
misuse.

Breadboard

A Breadboard is simply a board for prototyping or building circuits on. It allows you to
place components and connections on the board to make circuits without soldering.
The board is divided into rows and columns. To use the bread board, the legs of
components are placed in the holes. Each set of holes connected by a metal strip
underneath forms a node. A node is a point in a circuit where two components are
connected. Connections between different components are formed by putting their
legs in a common node.

DC Power Supply

The DC power supply is used to generate either a constant voltage (CV) or a

constant current (CC). That is, it may be used as either a DC voltage source or a DC
current source. You will be using it primarily as a voltage source. Recall that DC is
an acronym for direct current. The voltage produced by the power supply is
controlled by the knob labelled voltage. The current is limited by adjusting the knob
labelled current. As long as the circuit does not attempt to draw more current than
the value set by the current knob, the voltage will remain constant. This is often a
difficult concept for students to grasp. Current limiting allows the power supply to be
set such that it will not generate more current than it is safe. This can be useful as a
safety feature, preventing electrocution due to accidental contact with terminals. In
addition, current limiting can prevent damage to equipment and parts which may be
unable to handle excessive currents.

Oscilloscope

An oscilloscope is the most useful instrument available for testing circuits because it
allows you to see the signals at different points in the circuit. The best way of
investigating an electronic system is to monitor signals at the input and output of
each system block, checking that each block is operating as expected and is
correctly linked to the next.

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Function generator

A function generator is a device that can produce various patterns of voltage at a

variety of frequencies and amplitudes. It is used to test the response of circuits to
common input signals. The electrical leads from the device are attached to the
ground and signal input terminals of the device under test.

Most function generators allow the user to choose the shape of the output from a
small number of options.

• Square wave - The signal goes directly from high to low voltage.

• Sine wave - The signal curves like a sinusoid from high to low voltage.

• Triangle wave - The signal goes from high to low voltage at a fixed rate.

Safety Precaution
✓ Ask your instructor to check the circuit before turning on the power.
✓ Set the DMM on the resistance sign and select appropriate range.
✓ Do not connect your hands directly to the ends of resistors at the time of
measurement so that your body resistance should not come parallel to
resistance.

Procedures:

Part1: Voltage Measurement.

1- Turn on the DC Power supply.

2- Make sure that the current knob is little bit above the minimum value.

3- Adjust the voltage knob at 4.5 V.

4- Measure the voltage value using the digital multimeter, and write down the
measured value.

5- Find the percentage of error for the measured values.

6- State the reasons of the error.

Observations:

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Part 2: Resistance Measurement

Background on Resistance: Most resistors have four colored bands. The first three
bands indicate the nominal value of the resistor and the fourth band indicates the
tolerance in value.

Black Brown Red Orange Yellow Green Blue Violet Grey White
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Gold Silver
+5% +10%
Figure 1: The value of the colors

For example a resistor with color code brown-black-red-silver indicates a nominal

value of 1k .

Procedures:

PART A: Resistance measurement.

1- Pick up any 5 resistances.

2- Read the value of each resistance using the color method; show your steps in
details.

3- Measure the value of each resistance using the digital multimeter.

Calculations: (Show your theoretical work here)

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Table (observations):

Resistance Measured value Calculated value

Table 1.1

PART B: Measuring the Resistance of Your Body

1. Holding one probe between the thumb and forefinger of each hand, measure the
resistance of your body between your hands. Squeeze the probes tightly so that
good contact is established. Record the value of your body's resistance.

2. Considering that a current of 100-200 mA through your heart will almost certainly
kill you, how much voltage across your hands would be lethal?

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