Date: March 30, 2020

Title: Electricity
Problem Statement: In a 5th form class, a student wants to investigate the relationship between
the length of a wire and resistance. Plan and design an experiment to investigate the
relationship.
Hypothesis:
As the length of the wire increases, the resistance also increases
Aim:
To determine if the length of the wire increases with resistance
Variables:
Manipulating: length of wire
Responding: resistance
Controlled: Cross-Sectional area of the wire
Apparatus:
Ammeter, voltmeter, resistance wire, power supply

Diagram

Procedure
1. The apparatus was setup as shown in the diagram above.
2. The current was allowed to flow through the wire at various lengths with increments
of 10 cm up to 70 cm.
3. The current and voltage flowing was recorded
4. Steps 2-4 was repeated.
5. The data was recorded in s suitable table.
Results
TABLE SHOWING RESULTS OBTAINED
Length of wire/ cm Voltage/ volts Current/ Amps Resistance/ Ohms
V1 V2 Vavg I1 I2 Iavg R1 R2 Ravg
10 0.47 0.47 0.47 0.24 0.23 0.23 1.96 2.04 2.04
20 0.60 0.59 0.59 0.16 0.17 0.17 3.75 3.47 3.41
30 0.65 0.64 0.64 0.14 0.13 0.13 4.64 4.92 4.92
40 0.69 0.69 0.69 0.11 0.11 0.11 6.27 6.27 6.18
50 0.72 0.72 0.72 0.1 0.09 0.08 7.20 8.00 9.13
60 0.76 0.76 0.76 0.07 0.07 0.07 10.9 10.9 10.9
70 0.82 0.82 0.82 0.06 0.06 0.06 13.6 13.67 13.67
7

Data Analysis
1. A graph of voltage against current was plotted.
2. Gradient

3. The relationship based on the graph plotted is that the resistance of the wire is directly
proportional to the length, because a straight line graph was obtained.
4. The purpose of repeating steps 2-4 is to ensure that accurate readings were obtained.

Precautions:
1. Ensure that the polarity of the circuit is correct.
2. Ensure that the connections of circuit are tightly connected.
3. Readings are taken to avoid parallax error.

Source of error:
1. Parallax error
2. Best accuracy of the measuring instrument

Conclusion
It ca be concluded that the longer the wire the greater the resistance.