Ohm's Law In this lab we will make detailed measurements on a resistor to see if it obeys Ohm's law.

We will also check the rules for combining resistors in series and parallel. I. Theory Ohm's law describes the behavior of a resistor in the thermal range where the voltage across the resistor is proportional to the current flowing through the resistor. Ohm's law is usually expressed as V = IR , Ohm's Law where V is the potential difference across the resistor (measured in volts), I is the current through the resistor (measured in amperes), and R is the resistance of the resistor (measured in ohms). The full implication of the law is that the ratio of V to I remains constant as the current and voltage change. This would mean that a plot of V as a function of I would be a straight line. It can be shown (and probably has been, in the lecture part of the course) that resistors combined in parallel and in series behave as a single equivalent resistor, of value RS = R1 + R2 , Resistors in Series or 1 1 1 = + , Resistors in Parallel RP R1 R2

II. Experimental Procedure

A. Setting up a basic circuit. Remove a resistor from the protoboard, and using the ohmmeter function of your multimeter measure its resistance, as shown in figure 1. Repeat this for each resistor on the board. Record your results in your lab notebook. The nominal resistance values are R1 = 470 , R2 = 1,000 , and R3 = 3,000 . The resistors have a precision rating of 5%. Q1. Is your measured value R for each resistor within the expected limits?

Figure 1. Measuring a resistor with an ohm-meter.

Draw a circuit diagram similar to figure 2a in your lab book, showing the 1 k resistor connected to the power supply. Then connect the circuit. Turn on your power supply and set it to about 10 V. (The meter on the power supply gives an approximate value, but should not be used for accurate measurements.) For details on how to connect circuits using the protoboard, see Appendix B. We will be using this same connection board in two other experiments in this lab.

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A Now draw a circuit diagram in your lab book showing how to connect the R R R V voltmeter so as to accurately measure the voltage across the resistor. (See figure 2b.) Turn (a) (b) (c) the multimeter to the "V DC Figure 2. (a) Resistor circuit. (b) Placement of volt-meter. (c) voltage scale, and connect the Placement of ammeter. circuit. Record the voltage in your lab notebook. If it doesnt seem reasonable, have your instructor check your connections.

Turn the power supply off, to minimize the risk of blowing the fuse in the ammeter. We will now connect the ammeter in series with the resistor. First draw a circuit diagram in your lab book showing how to do this, based on figure 2c. Turn the multimeter to the "400 mA" setting, and connect up the circuit. Note that in order to connect the ammeter, you will need to "break" the circuit at the resistor and connect the ammeter into the circuit so that the current flows through it. Check your circuit carefully, turn on the power supply and record the current. If the result seems unreasonable, have your instructor check your connections. Use Ohms law and your measured values of the voltage across the resistor and the current through the resistor to calculate its resistance Rcalc.
Q2. Calculate the % discrepancy between Rcalc and R. Does this seem reasonable? B. Detailed Measurements on a Single Resistor.

Let's see if the 470 resistor obeys Ohm's law. You will be putting known voltages across the resistor and then measuring the current. You will plot the results to get the value of the resistor.

Draw a circuit diagram in your lab book showing how to connect the power supply, resistor, voltmeter and ammeter so Figure 3. Circuit for detailed as to obtain simultaneous measurements of voltage across the measurements on one resistor. resistor and current through the resistor. (See figure 3.) Set up a table in Excel to record your voltage and current measurements, following the sample data table shown in figure 4. Put 2.0 volts across the resistor and measure the current; record your values PRECISELY. Now take about 8 data points over the range 0 to 16V. As the voltage rises, check to see if the point I V P (amps) (volts) (watts) resistor is overheating.

Plot voltage (y-axis) vs. current (xaxis) in Excel. Use Excels linest method to get the slope of this graph and the error. Use the slope to determine the resistance of your

1 0.00215 2 0.0044 3 4

1.132 2.352

Figure 4. Sample Excel spreadsheet to test Ohm's law.

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resistor (including the error). For refresher about how to do this, see the first lab. Write down your experimental result (value and error) for the resistance determined this way, Rslope, in the standard way.
Q3. Does the value of the resistor R (as determined using the ohmmeter) fall in your experimentally determined range?

Using the spreadsheet, calculate the maximum power dissipated by your resistor (P = I2R = IV = V2/R). The resistor is rated for 0.5 watts of power (i.e. the resistor can dissipate up to 0.5 watts of power before it is damaged).
Q4. Q5.

Did you exceed the power rating, and did it do any damage? Did the resistor get hot? Why or why not?

C. Resistors in Series:

RS = R1 + R2 + R3

Let's see if three resistors connected in series obey Ohm's law. Draw a circuit diagram in your lab book, showing the three resistors in series with the ohm meter. (See figure 5.) Calculate the theoretically expected value Rcalc of the series resistance, using the values R for the individual resistors that you measured earlier. Now connect up the circuit and measure the series resistance RS with the ohm-meter.
Q6.

R1 R2 R3
Figure 5. Resistors connected in series for measurement with an ohm-meter.

Compare RS with Rcalc. Is this result reasonable?

D. Resistors in Parallel:

1 1 1 = + RP R1 R2

Here you will check the law for parallel addition of resistors by connecting the resistors in various parallel (and series-parallel) combinations, to see if prediction and measurement agree. Record all measurements and do all calculations in your lab book.
1. Two resistors in parallel. Choose two of your three resistors, and calculate a prediction for the parallel resistance that they should give. Then connect them to the ohm-meter in parallel, as shown in figure 6g, and measure their parallel resistance. Calculate the percent discrepancy between Rcalc and Rmeas. Q7.
R1 R2 R1 R2 R3

(g) R1 R2 R3

(h)

(i)

Is this result reasonable?

Figure 6. (g) Two resistors in parallel. (h) Three resistors in parallel. (i) Series-parallel combination.

2. Three resistors in parallel.

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Calculate the expected equivalent resistance for all three resistors connected in parallel, as shown in figure 6h. Draw the circuit, hook them up and measure the resistance. Calculate the percent discrepancy.
Q8.

Is this result reasonable?

3. Series-parallel combination. Now try the combination in figure 6i. As before, draw the circuit; predict the equivalent resistance; wire it up; and measure the equivalent resistance. Calculate the percent discrepancy. Q9.

What is your general feeling for the accuracy of the measurements of resistance made in this lab? Which of the methods used (ratio of V to I, slope of graph, ohm meter) is more accurate?

E. The resistor cube challenge problem. Ask your lab instructor if you should do this. III. Equipment

Resistors: 470 , 1,000 , 3,000 resistors (0.5 W power rating) PB-6 Global Specialties protoboard 2 - Digital multimeters (Metex M-3850) Power supply (HY3003D-3) Banana-plug hookup wires: 4 short, 2 long Mini-grabbers - 1 red, 1 black Resistor cube for demonstration, if available (10 k on a side)
IV. Appendix A: Resistor Color Code

One of the important components in an electric circuit is the Figure A1. A color-coded resistor. resistor. The most common kind is made from a thin carbon film. You should have some at your table. Their resistance can vary from less than one ohm to 20 million ohms or so. Each one is marked with the value of its resistance, using the resistor color code. (See Table A-I for the code.) There are four colored bands on a resistor. The first three colors represent numbers: a, b, and c. The value of the resistance in ohms is then given by the number: R = ab x10c ohms For example, if a=6, b=8, and c=3, R = 68 x 103 ohms. The fourth band indicates the precision with which the resistance is known. Ohm - 4

a b c d

TABLE A-I. RESISTOR COLOR CODE color number black 0 brown 1 red 2 orange 3 yellow 4 green 5 blue 6 violet 7 gray 8 white 9

silver 10% precision gold 5% precision

NOTE: you may be supplied with high-precision resistors, which have five bands, with the extra band used to give another significant figure to the resistance value. Appendix B. Wiring using the Prototyping Board

The circuits studied in this lab will use the Global Specialties PB-6 Prototyping Board (or protoboard for short). This board is shown schematically in figure B-1. (The spacing between holes is somewhat exaggerated on the figure for clarity.) Wires and the ends of resistors, capacitors and other components are meant to be inserted into the holes in the protoboard. These holes are interconnected in a certain way to create continuous wiring between the components. Specifically: In the central sections, holes are connected across the width of the board in groups of 5. In the sections on the edge of the board, holes are connected in long strips going the full length of the board.

E F

Figure B-1. Interconnection of protoboard plug locations. Points A and B are electrically

connected, while points A and C are not; and points D, E and F are electrically connected, but none of them connect to point G.

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