Escalante 1 Manuel Escalante 4/14/2014 Physics 180 Lab: Current & Voltage Introduction: In this lab we tested and

examined the relationship between Current and Voltage. We discovered how the current through a resistor depends on the voltage across the resistor. The experiment in total will examine Ohms law. We will test this law that states that the current through a resistor is proportional to the voltage across the resistor. Procedure:

We began our experiment by preparing the circuit. We used a power supply for our battery. This power supply was adjustable so that we could produce various voltages for the circuit. We connected the battery directly into the ammeter and set the ammeter to give us the current through the battery in Amps( x10-3). From there we connected the resistor to the end of the ammeter, and the end of the resistor to back to the power supply. We also attached a Voltmeter to the circuit with alligator clips on both sides of the resistor. We set the Voltmeter to measure the voltage through the resistor in Volts. Once our circuit was built, we began the actual experiment by turning on the power supply and adjusting it to give us six different voltages. At each different voltage we measured and recording the voltage with the voltmeter and the current with the ammeter. This gave us 6 measurements for the resistor. We completed this step with different resistors and in different set ups with resistors A, B, and C. We recorded Current and Voltage with resistor A, B, and C. We then recorded our measurements for A and B connected in series and connected in parallel (See figure below). We also connected A, B and C in a combination of series and parallel.

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Data: A B C Current (Amps) V (volts) Current (Amps) V (volts) Current (Amps) V (volts) 0.0011 0.64 0.0001 0.54 0.0003 0.6 0.0057 2.75 0.0006 2.9 0.0018 2.07 0.0078 3.78 0.0008 3.45 0.0028 2.98 0.0111 5.25 0.001 4.38 0.005 5.4 0.014 6.67 0.0014 5.71 0.0073 7.5 0.0173 8.25 0.002 8.16 0.0094 9.5
A+B (Series) A+B (Parallel) A, B, C Current (Amps) V (volts) Current (Amps) V (volts) Current (Amps) V (volts) 0.0003 1.4 0.0016 0.8 0.0008 1.7 0.0006 3.1 0.0076 3.4 0.0015 2.49 0.0009 4.38 0.0104 4.65 0.0026 3.9 0.0012 5.43 0.0129 5.8 0.0037 5.75 0.0016 7.38 0.0163 7.3 0.0053 7.8 0.0019 8.6 0.0195 8.5 0.0062 9.3

Theory and Analysis: In this experiment we examined the relationship between current and voltage through a resistor. The physics law we are testing is Ohms law. This is law states that the current running through a resistor is directly proportional to the voltage (potential difference) across both points of the resistor. The constant of proportionality is the resistance of the resistor. This equation in result is I=V/R, where I is the current in Amps, V is the voltage in Volts, and R is the resistance in Ohms. In order to prove the direct proportionality between the Current and Voltage through the resistor, our measurements must result in a straight line graph with the line going through the zero. This will be expected of the first three resistor sets up, as well the parallel, series, and parallel/series set up. We can expect the variations of the circuit to all follow the proportionality between the Current and Voltage. This is because any variation of resistors can be simplified

Escalante 3 into one equivalent Resistor. An extra part of this lab is finding the resistance of the 3 resistors and the resistance of the variations of the resistors. For the variation of resistors, the parallel, series and combination set up, we can simplify the variations into one equivalent resistor. We can do this with two formulas, one for parallel, and one for series set up (as seen in the figure above). We can also combine both formulas to use for the A,B, and C combination. The formula for this is shown below.

Rn is equivalent to the resistance of the individual resistor.

Results:

R(a)=I/Vy = 469.35x + 0.0978

10 Voltage (Volts) 8 6 4 2 0 0 0.005 0.01 0.015 0.02 Current (Amps) R = 0.9998 10 Voltage (volts) 8 6 4 2 0 0

R(b)=I/Vy = 3932.5x + 0.323

R = 0.9968

0.001

0.002

0.003

Current (Amps)

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R(c)=I/Vy = 984.17x + 0.3119

R = 0.9993 12 8 6 4 2 0 0 0.002 0.004 0.006 0.008 0.01 Current (Amps) Voltage (Volts) Voltage (volts) 10 10 8 6 4 2 0

R(a+b: Series)=I/V

y = 4414.9x + 0.2656 R = 0.9968 0 0.0005 0.001 0.0015 0.002

Current (Amps)

R(a+b: Parallel)
10 Voltage (volts) 8 6 4 2 0 0 0.005 0.01 y = 434.81x + 0.1254 R = 0.9994 0.015 0.02 0.025 Current (Amps) 10 Voltage (Volts) 8 6 4 2 0 0

R(a,b,c)=I/V

y = 1413.8x + 0.4203 R = 0.9978

0.002

0.004 Current (Amps)

0.006

0.008

As we can see, the lines in the graphs are fairly straight, also going through zero. This shows that Current and Voltage are directly proportional to one another. We can also examine the equation provided to us from the graphs. We can use the slope of the equations to give us the resistance of the resistor and the Y-Intercept as a small amount of error. Calculating resistance: Example 1. (Resistor A) Average Current of resistor A: 0.0095 Amps Average voltage of Resistor A: 4.55 Volts V=I*R 4.55 Volts = 0.0095 Amps * (R) 4.55/0.0095 = 478.94 Resistance = 478.94

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Equ. Resistor A B C A+B Series A+B Parallel A,B,C

Conclusion:

Resistance (Calculated) Resistance (Graph) 478.94 469.35 4012.5 3932.5 1024.28 984.17 4566.66 4414.9 447.11 434.81 1468.22 1413.8

This lab gave us a major understanding of Ohms law. This described the relationship between Current and Voltage through a resistor. We learned that with any resistor or equivalent resistor, the current running through it will be directly proportional to the voltage on both sides of the resistor. If we increase the voltage, then the current will increase and viceversa. More specifically, the voltage is equivalent to the Resistance of the resistor multiplied by the current through the resistor. There were a few possible sources of error in this experiment. The circuit set up is fairly simple, so there did not appear to be any major sources of error there. The only plausible sources of error may have resulted in the measuring of the values. The voltage and ammeters may have been inaccurate in the measurements. Since we were monitoring the only two variables in this experiment, there were not many other sources of error. The only other possible source of error would be the increased resistance in the circuit by the wire connecting the resistors to the voltmeter and ammeter.