Experiment#03

Kirchhoff's Laws and Basic Instrumentation

Objectives Measurement of DC current and voltage Meter resistance and precision measurement to develop proficiency in the use of the digital multimeter in the context of verifying Kirchhoff's Voltage and Current Laws (KVL and KCL) use of voltage and current dividers

Part 1: Ideal s! Practical "oltmeter and #mmeter "oltmeter !n ideal voltmeter has infinite resistance" #t is an open circuit !lthough it is impossi$le to ma%e a physical voltmeter with infinite resistance& a well designed voltmeter exhi$its a very large internal input resistance #n some experiments& it is important to ta%e into account the finite& non'ideal& internal resistance (o determine the internal resistance of the voltmeter& set up the circuit shown in figure )') (he voltmeter reads the voltage across itself& which includes its internal resistance *ince the circuit has only a single $ranch& the current flowing through the resistor also flows through the voltmeter (he current is
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given $y the e+uation" ,rom -hm's Law& if we %now the current (#) and the voltage (V M) we can compute .M
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$i%ure 1&1: Circuit for measuring the resistance of the voltmeter ) / 0 2 *elect a )M resistor Measure its value using the multimeter *et the power supply to provide )1 V (.emem$er& alwa's measure the olta%e pro ided (' the power suppl' with either the oscilloscope or the oltmeter! )o not rel' on the di%ital displa' on the front panel of the power suppl'!) !ssem$le the circuit in ,igure )') .ecord the voltage measured $y the voltmeter Compute the internal resistance of the voltmeter using 3+uation ()'/)

#mmeter !n ideal ammeter has 4ero resistance so that the circuit in which it has $een placed is not distur$ed !n ideal ammeter is a short circuit 5owever& as with the voltmeter& no ammeter can ever $e ideal& and therefore all ammeters have some ( hopefully) small internal resistance (o determine the resistance of the ammeter& we will use the circuit in ,igure )'/ !ccording to -hm's Law& the current in this circuit will $e I * "+, where , * , - ,. so the current can $e found using the e+uation" 36. /21/ La$oratory Manual
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8y using the %nown +uantities I, VS& and R, we can solve for the un%nown +uantity RM

$i%ure 1&/: Circuit for measuring the resistance of the ammeter #n the procedure that follows it is extremely important that you ta%e precise and accurate measurements .ecord each measurement as precisely as the instrument will allow ) *elect a )11 resistor Measure and record its actual value / !ssem$le the circuit in ,igure )'/ *et the multimeter to the ammeter mode for dc current measurement 0 9se the oscilloscope or another multimeter to measure the voltage across the DC power supply (D:*) 2 Measure the value of the current using the ammeter ; Determine the value of .M of the ammeter from 3+uation ()'0) Part /: 0sin% the multimeter as a oltmeter or ammeter 0sin% the .ultimeter as a "oltmeter ! voltmeter is a device for measuring voltage #t measures the voltage drop from the red to the $lac% pro$es (he voltmeter is placed in parallel with the circuit element whose voltage is to $e measured .ecall that two elements are in parallel when they share the same pair of nodes and hence share the same voltage Consider the voltage divider circuit shown in ,igure /') in which the voltage across . / is to $e measured #f the presence of the voltmeter does not affect the voltage it is intending to measure& the meter must draw no current (hat is& it must act as an open circuit !n open circuit may $e thought of as an infinite resistance 5ence& an ideal voltmeter has an infinite resistance <ou measured the internal resistance of the voltmeter in part ) and found the value to $e on the order of M which is large& $ut certainly not infinite

$i%ure /&1: Voltage Divider Circuit ,irst consider the circuit with the voltmeter not present #n this case the voltage V x can $e expressed in terms of the source voltage Vs and the resistors .) and ./ $y
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=ith the voltmeter present& its resistance alters the voltage division e+uation which $ecomes
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where .M is the resistance of the voltmeter <ou will not $e a$le to see how this e+uation was o$tained at first examination Let the voltmeter in ,igure /') $e represented $y a resistance . M 9se resistance reduction and voltage division to o$tain an expression for V x in terms of Vs (hen& clear the fractions in the numerator and denominator 8e sure to show your derivation in your la$ report .ecall that an ideal voltmeter has infinite resistance *how that $y letting the value of . M in 3+uation (/'/) $e infinite should result in 3+uation (/')) <ou will now $uild the voltage divider circuit using the DC power supply (D:*) as the voltage source V s in ,igure /') "olta%e )i ider with .oderate&"alued ,esistors ) / 0 2 -$tain two ) % resistors Designate one of the resistors as . )and the other as ./ Measure the resistor values using the multimeter as an ohmmeter 8e sure to %eep trac% of which resistor corresponds to which value measured? 8uild the circuit in ,igure /') using the ) % resistors for .) and ./ *et the power supply to ;V 9se the voltmeter& not the front panel display of the power supply to ensure the proper setting Important 1ote: <ou $uilt the circuit $efore you set the power supply voltage to ;V #f the current limiter is set to a value lower than the current demanded $y the circuit& the constant current 2cc3 indicator will light up and the voltage control %no$ will no longer ad@ust the output voltage #f this happens& simply increase the current limiter until you are a$le to achieve ;V in the constant olta%e 2c 3 mode 9sing the voltmeter& measure the voltage across resistor & and then across resistor .ecord these values& as always& and verify Kirchhoff's Voltage Law KVL Comment on the accuracy of measurements made considering the internal resistance of the voltmeter Create a ta$le presenting theoretical and measured voltages along with percent error Consider whether your theoretical values for the voltages across . )and ./ should include the effect of .M Important 1ote: =hen you are calculating percent error& you should avoid cases in which the theoretical value is 4ero since the percent error is meaningless (o calculate percent error $etween theoretical and experimental verification of KVL& use the source voltage as the reference ,or example& in the measurements made in this section& the theoretical value (and measured value?) for the voltage across the supply is ;V (he measured value is the same as the theoretical value $ecause you used the voltmeter to set the power supply voltage to ;V (o o$tain the KVL measured voltage& add the voltage across .) to the voltage across ./ Compare with ;V

; A 7

"olta%e )i ider with Lar%e&"alued ,esistors Do the same previous steps (from ) to 7) using )1 M resistors instead of the ) % resistors

0sin% the .ultimeter as an #mmeter !n ammeter is a device for measuring current #t measures the current flowing from the red to the $lac% pro$es within the meter (he ammeter is placed in series with the circuit element whose current is to $e measured .ecall that two elements are in series when they share in the same $ranch and hence share the same current Consider the current divider circuit shown in ,igure /'/

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$i%ure /&/: Current Divider Circuit (he current through .) may $e expressed as a fraction of i. in terms of .) and ./ using current division i1 * i, 2,/3+2,1-,/3 (/'0)

Derive e+uation /'0 (8e sure to show your derivation in your la$ report ) <ou will now $uild the current divider circuit and ma%e several measurements .ecord all measured values and present percent error calculations and ta$les as appropriate 4urrent )i ider with .oderate&"alued ,esistors -$tain two )11 resistors Designate one of the resistors as . )and the other as ./ Measure the resistor values using the multimeter as an ohmmeter 8e sure to %eep trac% of which resistor corresponds to which value measured? 0 8uild the circuit in ,igure /'/ using the )11 resistors for and 2 *et the power supply to )1V Don't forget to set the voltage using the voltmeter rather than depending on the front panel display of the power supply ; 9sing the voltmeter& measure the voltage across the )1 % resistor followed $y the parallel com$ination of resistors .)and ./ .ecord these values& as always& and verify Kirchhoff's Voltage Law KVL A Configure the multimeter to measure current 7 Measure the current through the )1V source .emem$er that you have to (rea5 the circuit and insert the ammeter in series with the )1V source to allow the current to flow through the ammeter > Measure the current through .)and ./ then the current through the )1 % B Verify Kirchhoff's Current Law (KCL) .emem$er that a theoretical value of 4ero produces a meaningless percent error )1 Comment on the accuracy of the voltage measurements made (consider the internal resistance of the voltmeter) )) Comment on the accuracy of the current measurements made (consider the internal resistance of the ammeter) ) / 4urrent )i ider with 6mall&"alued ,esistors Do the same previous steps (from ) to ))) using )1 resistors instead of the )11 resistors 6imulation usin% 7or5Bench #n part / of this la$oratory experiment& you constructed a total of four circuits" ) (he voltage divider circuit in ,igure /') first with .) and ./ each with a nominal value of ) % and then with a nominal value of )1 M / (he current divider circuit in ,igure /'/ first with .) and ./ each with a nominal value of )11 and then with a nominal value of )1 36. /21/ La$oratory Manual
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9sing the values of the voltmeter and ammeter internal resistance that you measured in parts ) andCor /& use =or%$ench to simulate the four circuits and compare the results to the theoretical and measured values

8uestions to (e answered: ) (he current division e+uation (3+uation /'0) does not include the resistance of the ammeter Let the internal resistance of the ammeter $e . M =rite the expression for the current through . )& i)& including the resistance of the meter assuming that the ammeter is $eing used to measure the current i ) (hen ta%e the limit of this expression as the ammeter internal resistance goes to 4ero& showing that the limit is given $y 3+uation (/'0) (he voltage source and )1 % resistor in ,igure /'/ form an approximate current source for small load resistances #f the voltage source and )1 % resistor formed an ideal current source& then the current is would $e constant& independent of the resistances . ) and ./& which is certainly not the case Consider the parallel com$ination of . ) and ./ as a single resistance . L #f .L is small compared to )1 %& then the current will $e very nearly ) m! (.ecall that v s D )1 V) independent of .L Calculate the range of values of .L such that the current is will deviate from ) m! $y no more than ;E Consider the circuit shown in ,igure /'0 *uppose you want to %now the value of all voltages and currents in the circuit !ssume that you %now nothing at all a$out the resistor values <ou want the results to $e as accurate as possi$le <ou have a multimeter that you may use as either a voltmeter or an ammeter 3xplain the se+uence of measurements that you ma%e Comment on your level of confidence that your results are accurate Don't forget that you have -hm's Law and Kirchhoff's Laws that may $e used

$i%ure /&3: .esistive Fetwor%

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