Ohms Law

Objective: Conceptual: To investigate the relationship between current, voltage, and resistance in an electric circuit and to verify Ohms law. Experimental Skills: Use the DataStudio software to measure the current in a resistor and the voltage across a resistor. Background Ohm discovered that when the voltage (potential difference) across a resistor changes, the current through the resistor changes. He expressed this as
I V R

(1)

where I is current, V is voltage (potential difference), and R is resistance. Current is directly proportional to voltage and inversely proportional to resistance. In other words, as the voltage increases, so does the current. The proportionality constant is the value of the resistance. Since the current is inversely proportional to the resistance, as the resistance increases, the current decreases. A resistor is Ohmic if as voltage across the resistor is increased, a graph of voltage versus current shows a straight line (indicating a constant resistance). The slope of the line is the value of the resistance. A resistor is non-Ohmic if the graph of voltage versus current is not a straight line. For example, if resistance changes as voltage changes, the graph of voltage versus current might show a curve with a changing slope.

Setup & Procedure

R2 R1

switch power supply

Figure 1. Basic circuit. Figure 1 shows the basic circuit that will be used in this experiment. The items labeled R1 and R2 are resistors. o R1 is the resistor whose resistance will be determined from the slope of the V vs. I plot.

o R2 is small resistor provided to limit the current in the circuit so as not to damage the ammeters. o The power supply is the black box labeled "quad power supply". The power supply needs two connections. One wire connection is the ground, which is any of the black connectors. The second connection is the voltage. For this lab we will use the variable voltage connection which is the red connection on the far right side of the power supply. The voltage is controlled by the adjacent knob. Measure the value of R1 using an ohmmeter. With the power supply turned OFF setup the circuit shown in Figure 1. Do this by clearing a large space on the table and laying out all components with the same arrangement as shown in the picture. Have the instructor check your circuit.

Voltage Meter and Ammeter (Current Meter) The voltage across R1 will be measured with a voltage sensor (voltmeter). The voltmeter is connected in parallel with the component being measured (in this case the voltage across R1). The current in R1 will be measured with a current sensor (ammeter). The ammeter is connected in series with the component being measured (in this case the current in R1).

R2 To PASCO Interface V R1

switch power supply

A To PASCO Interface Figure 2. Basic circuit with voltage and ammeters added.

Connect the voltage sensor and current sensor to the circuit as shown in Figure 2. The voltage sensor is indicated by a "V" inside a circle and the current sensor is indicated by an "A" inside a circle. Here the voltage sensor is connected to R1 in parallel. The current sensor is in series with R1. Have the instructor check your circuit.

Setup for the PASCO 750 Interface and DataStudio Software Plug in the PASCO 750 Interface box to the wall outlet and turn on the power. Connect the PASCO 750 Interface box to the computer using the USB cable. Power up the PASCO 750 Interface box. Connect the voltage and current sensors to the PASCO 750 Interface box. Bring up the DataStudio software. Inside the DataStudio window, a smaller window should appear that gives 4 options. o Click on Create Experiment. If the smaller window does not appear then click on File o Click on New Activity o A smaller window should appear that gives 4 options. o Click on Create Experiment. A window labeled Experiment Setup appears with an image of the PASCO 750 Interface. o Click on Add Sensor or Instrument. o Scroll down until you find the voltage sensor and click on Voltage Sensor In the Data window on the left you should see the voltage sensor in Ch A o Click on Add Sensor or Instrument again. o Scroll down until you find the current sensor and click on Current Sensor In the Data window on the left you should see the current sensor in Ch B Sensor Readout Configuration for Data Taking We wish to take a series of voltage and current readings, one at a time. Heres how to set this up: In the Experiment Setup window click on Sampling Options In the Manual Sampling Tab make sure the box labeled Keep Data Values Only When Commanded is checked. Click the box labeled, Enter a keyboard value when data is kept. Uncheck the box labeled, Prompt for a value . Setup voltage and current tables as follows

o In the Data window, drag the voltage to the Displays and drop in the Table item. A table will appear. o In the Data window, drag the current to the Displays and under the Table items drop the current into the new table that is listed. The previous table window should now display both voltage and current. NOTE: Data and graphs will be plotted in DataStudio while running the experiment. The tables must be exported to Excel and graphs must be plotted in Excel and submitted with the report. Taking Data In the DataStudio Window, click on Start. You should see sensor readings appear in both the voltage and current tables. Make sure the power supply is plugged in and powered on (it has a switch in back). Adjust the variable voltage knob on the far right of the power supply to its lowest value. Close the switch in the circuit and observe the values in the voltage and current tables. We would like the values tobe positive. The sign of the readings is irrelevant to this experiment, but having positive values makes the plots a bit easier to interpret. If they are negative it simply means the sensor is connected in reverse. Fix this by switching the connectors on the sensor that is giving negative readings. To take your first reading, when the values stabilize, click Keep. Increase the voltage on the power supply and take a total of 10 readings that cover the full range of the power supply voltage. When done taking reading click on Stop. Export data to Excel

Analyzing Data Setup a graph of voltage vs. current as follows: o Click and drag the voltage readings in the Data window to Graph in the Displays window. A new graph of the voltage readings vs. time should appear. We do not want to display voltage as a function of time. We wish to display voltage as a function of current. In the Data window click and hold on current. Drag this to the abscissa. You will see a dotted box appear around the abscissa as you drag the cursor over this axis. When you unclick, the abscissa will now be current rather than time. Obtain the slope of the graph.

o In the graph window click on Fit. A menu will appear. Click on Linear. o The linear fit should now appear on the graph as a line along with the fit parameters. The slope of the fit corresponds to the resistance, R1. Compare this value to that measured with the ohmmeter by calculating the percent difference: (2)
x100 ohmmeter reading Re-plot this graph in Excel with voltage on the ordinate and current on the abscissa. Do a linear fit to this graph and re-calculate the percent difference of the slope using the slope you got from the linear fit from Excel. Please also quote the values obtained from DataStudio Analysis Question 1: Do these readings fall within the experimental error margin from the instrumental uncertainty? Prediction The instructor will give you a second resistor to replace R1. Measure the value of this resistor with the ohmmeter.

percent difference =

slope

value ohmmeter reading

Create an empty table in DataStudio: o Click on the Experiment tab and then click on New Empty Data Table A new entry in the Data window will appear called Data and the table itself will appear in its own window. o Correctly label the table: This is a very important step that must be done properly so that we can plot the predictions and the subsequently made measured values on the same graph. In the Data window double click on the table name (which is Data). A Data Properties window will appear. In the Data Properties window, click on the Appearance tab. Change the table name from Data to something appropriate. In the Data Properties window, click on the General tab. In the Variable Name box change X to Current. In the Units box type in A (for amps). In the pull down arrow of the Variable Name box click on Y and change Y to Voltage. In the Units box type in V (for volts). Close the Data Properties window by clicking on OK. o In the table display list 10 voltages covering the range of the power supply. o Use Ohms Law with your measured resistance value to calculate the current for each of these voltages and enter these values in the table. o In the Data window click and drag the table name to the item Graph in the Displays window. A plot of the data in your table will appear in the graph. This is a plot of your predicted data.

Place this new resistor in the circuit where the old R1 was.

Prediction Question 1: You will be taking 10 readings of voltage and current with this new resistor as done previously. Since this data will be compared with the prediction, do you think it is important to take current readings for the exact same voltage values as used for the prediction or does it not matter? Explain your answer in 2 sentences. Take 10 readings of voltage and current as was done previously. Plot these data points on the same graph as your predictions:

o First make a plot of the measure data as before by clicking and dragging the voltage readings to Graph in the Displays window. (A new graph of the voltage readings vs. time should appear.) Then click and drag the current readings to the abscissa to get a new plot of the measured voltage vs. currents readings. o Once you have done this, a new entry should appear in the Data window that shows voltage vs. current. Click and drag this data set to the center of the prediction graph. You should now see both the data set and the prediction values graphed on the same plot. o Obtain the slopes of the two graphs following the procedure done earlier. To get the slope for each data set: Move the cursor to one of the points on one of the data sets and click. The legend on the graph for that data set should now be highlighted. Now, as in the first part, in the graph window, click on Fit. A menu will appear. Click on Linear. Do the same for the second data set to get the second fit line. o Checkpoint: The slope from the predicted line should equal the ohmmeter reading of the resistor. If it is not equal, please verify that your calculation for the predicted graph is accurate. o Compare the predicted result with the experimentally obtained result by calculating the percentage difference: Experimental Slope predicted Slope (3) percent difference = x100 ______________ predicted Slope Export the prediction and experimental data tables to Excel. Plot the predicted and measured values on a single graph of voltage (y-axis) vs. current (x-axis) and do an appropriate fit. Re-plot this graph in Excel with voltage on the y-axis and current on the x-axis. Do a linear fit to this graph and re-calculate the percent difference of the slope using the slope you got from the linear fit from Excel. Please also quote the values obtained from DataStudio Do these readings fall within the experimental error margin from the instrumental uncertainty?

Questions 1. 2. For a circuit with a constant resistance, what happens to the current as the voltage increases? For a circuit with a constant resistance, what kind of relationship (e.g., inverse, linear) does the current have to the voltage?

Report Requirement: 1. Objective 2. Theory (one paragraph, in your own words) 3. Measuring Instruments table, with a column for least count, numerical uncertainty (if applicable) and source of human uncertainty 4. Data: - Values of resistance from each section - Tabulate measured and predicted values in the second section 5. Analysis: (Each Section, As Applicable) - Calculations of prediction to be tabulated with the corresponding data. Write out one example calculation. - Graphs (including predicted curve) - Slope values and what this represents - Comparing slope values with measured values percentage difference - Comparing slope values for the predicted and measured graphs. - Does the slope value fall within the error margin of the measured value? If not, what might be the reason. (Human Error is not an acceptable response) - Answer questions at the end 6. Conclusion: Discuss your results in terms of the objectives. Discuss how your data for voltage and current compare to theoretical expectations. Reference: Physics Experiment Manual CA-6787 for the PASCO Comprehensive Systems, Ed. Dave Griffith, PASACO Curriculum Group, 2004

INSTRUCTORS NOTES If using W resistors and the variable power of the quad supply, use at least R2=1000 ohms: The max voltage is about 20V. This gives 20V/1000ohm = 0.02A or 20ma. This corresponds to a power of P=VI=(20V)(0.02A) = 0.4W. 2 2 or P=V /R=(20V) /1000ohm = 0.4W Thats over W, but with a 100ohm or 200 ohm resistor for R1 this is ok. The PASCO sensors dont read well if below about 1mA. Be sure to calculate the currents you expect and verify that *all* the sensors read well.