LivePhoto Physics Activity 28

Name:___________________________
Date:____________________________

ResistanceandOhmsLaw
Whendesigningorusingelectronicdevices,we
oftenneedtoknowhowchangingthevoltage
acrossthedevicewillaffectthecurrentflowing
throughit.
Forexample,whatwillhappentothecurrent
flowingthroughacircuitelement,suchasabulb
thatispartofacircuit,ifweincreasethevoltage
acrossit?Alternatively,whatwillhappentothe
currentpassingthroughacarbonresistoras
voltageincreases?Toanswerthesequestions,
letsstartwithtwodefinitions:

98.8

2.49

Figure 1:
The two
multimeters in
this circuit are
wired to record
the current
passing through
a bulb and the
voltage drop
across it.

Definition 1:We define the resistance, R, of an electrical device as the ratio of the potential difference or
voltage drop, V, across it to the current passing through it.

V
i

(definitionofResistance).

Definition2:WesaythatadeviceobeysOhmsLawifthecurrentpassingthroughitisalwaysdirectly
proportionaltothevoltagedropacrossit,independentofthevalueofthevoltagedrop,sothatthevalueof
itsresistancedoesntchangeevenifweapplyadifferentvoltageacrossit.

Inthisassignmentyouwillcomparethebehaviorofaflashlightbulbtothatofacarbonresistorand
determinewhetherornotthesedevicesobeyOhmsLaw.
1.PreliminaryQuestions
Note:Youwillreceivefullcreditforeachpredictionmadeinthispreliminarysectionwhetherornotit
matchesconclusionsyoureachinthenextsection.Aspartofthelearningprocessitisimportantto
compareyourpredictionswithyourresults.Donotchangeyourpredictions!
(a) Whichofthetwometersiswiredtomeasurethecurrentpassingthroughthebulbshownin
Figure1?Theoneoftheleftortheoneontheright?Note:Thelightgreywireinthebottomleftin
thephotoisanenhancementofaredwireinthemovieframe.Ifyoustillhavetroubleinterpreting
thewiringopentheimageentitled< Fig1_bulb_meter.pct >anduseitinsteadofFigure1.
LeftMeter______ RightMeter______
(b) HowmanybatteriesareinthecircuitinFigure1?
Zero______One______Two______Three______
(c) DrawaneatcircuitdiagramforFigure1usingthefollowingstandardsymbols:
A

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(d) Circletheonlygraphshownbelowthatdepictsaproportionalrelationship.

2.ActivityBasedQuestions
Inthissection,youwillworkwithaLoggerProfileentitled<OhmsLaw.cmbl>inwhichyoucanenter
meterreadingsshownintwomovies.Thefirstmovieshowswhathappenstothecurrentpassingthrough
aflashlightbulbwhentherearedifferentvoltagedrops(orpotentialdifferences)acrossitwhen0,1,2
and3batteriesarehookedintothecircuit.Thesecondmoviebeencreatedinasimilarmannerbutthe
bulbhasbeenreplacedwithacarbonresistor.Note:Beforetakingdatayoumaywanttoplaythemovies
andthenenlargethemsoyoucanseethenumbersandthedecimalpointsonthemetersclearly!Take
dataforthevoltageacrossandthecurrentthroughthebulb:In<bulb_meter.mov >useframes0,26
or27,43or44,and64orhigherforrecordingdataandentervaluesinthetablebelow.
(a) Takedataforthevoltageacrossandthecurrentthroughtheresistor:In<resistor_meter.mov >
useframes0,28or29,48or49,and73orhigherandentervaluesinthetablebelow.
i bulb
(mA)

V_bulb
(Volts)

i_resistor
(mA)

V_resistor
(Volts)

(b) Graphyourresults:Sketchyourresultsforthetwodevicesinthegraphframesbelow.

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(c) Calculatetheresistancefortheflashlightbulbinohmsforeachofyourvaluesofcurrentandvoltage
drop(excepti=0AandV=0V).Reportyourresultstotwosignificantfigures.Hint:Dontforget
tochangemilliamps(mA)toamps(A).

R1Bulb

R2Bulb

R3Bulb

(d) DoestheflashlightbulbobeyOhmsLawovertherangeofvoltagesusedinthecircuit?Whyorwhy
not?Citeevidenceforyouranswerfrombothparts2(b)and2(c).

(e) Calculatetheresistanceforthecarbonresistorinohmsforeachofyourvaluesofcurrentandvoltage
drop(excepti=0AandV=0V).Reportyourresultstotwosignificantfigures.Hint:Dontforget
tochangemilliamps(mA)toamps(A).

R1Resistor

R2Resistor

R3Resistor

(f) DoesthecarbonresistorobeyOhmsLawovertherangeofvoltagesusedinthecircuit?Whyor
whynot?Citeevidenceforyouranswerfrombothparts2(b)and2(e).

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3.ReflectionsonYourFindings
(a) IfeitherorbothofyourcircuitelementsdidnotobeyOhmsLaw,canyouthinkofanyreasonsfor
thenonohmicbehavior?Inotherwordswhatmightbehappeningtooneorbothoftheelementsas
theappliedvoltagedropincreases?

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