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Contents
Introductory concepts ................................................................................................................................ 1
Exercise 1. Breadboards ............................................................................................................................. 3
1.1 Understanding nodes and rails......................................................................................................... 4
1.2 Equivalent circuit .............................................................................................................................. 6
Exercise 2. Basic measurements ................................................................................................................. 8
2.1 Measuring resistance ....................................................................................................................... 8
2.2 Building your first circuit and measuring voltage............................................................................. 8
2.3 Measuring current and verifying Ohms law .................................................................................... 9
Things to remember ............................................................................................................................. 10
Exercise 3. Finding an unknown resistance .............................................................................................. 11
Exercise 4. Multisim simulation ................................................................................................................ 12
4.1 Getting started ............................................................................................................................... 12
4.2 Circuit simulation ........................................................................................................................... 12
Exercise 5. MATLAB simulation ................................................................................................................ 12
Introductory concepts
In today's high technology world, the biomedical engineer is faced with the design and analysis of an
increasingly wide variety of circuits and systems. However, underlying all of these systems at a
fundamental level is the operation of direct current (DC) circuits. The ability to analyze and simplify
such circuits is central to the understanding and design of more complicated circuits. Furthermore, the
measurement of DC circuit quantities, i.e. voltage, current and resistance, are the most fundamental
measurements that need to be made quite frequently. In this introductory lab, you will learn how to
build simple resistive circuits with DC sources and take basic measurements. You will also be
introduced to a circuit simulation tool called MutiSim and review MATLAB, which we will use
throughout the course.
We will now very briefly go over the some of the key terms such as voltage, current, resistance, etc.
The concept of electric charge is the basis for describing all electrical phenomena. This charge is
bipolar, meaning that electrical effects are described in terms of positive and negative charges. The
electric charge exists in discrete quantities (in integral multiples of the electronic charge, 1.6022 x 10-19
C). Electrical effects are attributed to both the separation of charge and charges in motion.
In circuit theory, the separation of charge creates an electric force (voltage) and the motion of charge
creates an electric fluid (current). Voltage is analogous to pressure of a liquid or gas whereas current is
analogous to its flow. Resistance, as the name suggests, is simply a measure of how much an object
opposes the passage of charges. The units of voltage, current and resistance are Volts (denoted V),
Amperes (denoted A) and Ohms (denoted ), respectively.
Figure 1
For example, if a 5 mA current flows through a resistor of 10 k, then the voltage drop across the
resistor will be 5 mA x 10 k = 50 V. It is very important to remember that the voltage drops in the
direction of the current flow, as the electrons flow from a higher potential to lower potential.
Every electric circuit requires a source of power, which is usually the battery. To drive the current
around the circuit, the battery undergoes a discharging process that converts chemical energy into
electric energy that eventually gets dissipated as heat in the resistor. In this lab, you will use constant-
voltage sources that will deliver power to the electric circuit. These voltage sources will be assumed to
maintain a pre-specified voltage difference across their terminals at all times.
You do not need to write a formal report for todays lab. Fill in the worksheet as you go through the
exercises and just submit the completed worksheet after you finish (you can scan or take pictures of
any circuits you draw). However, make sure you save a copy of the worksheet and review it to prepare
yourself better for the subsequent labs (as well as the exams).
A breadboard is used to build and test circuits quickly before finalizing any circuit design. The
breadboard has many holes into which circuit components like integrated circuits (ICs) and resistors
can be inserted. The holes are most commonly spaced 0.1 apart to accommodate standard
components. A typical breadboard that includes top and bottom (or left and right) power distribution
rails is shown in Figure 2. The breadboard has strips of metal sockets which run underneath the board,
connecting groups of holes on the board.
Figure 2
To use the bread board, the leads of components are inserted into the holes. Each set of holes
connected by a metal strip underneath forms a node. A node is a point in a circuit where two or more
components are connected. For example, in Figure 3(a), the five holes denoted a, b, c, d and e in row 1
are all internally connected. The holes denoted f through j in row 1 are also connected to each other
but not to holes a through e. Figure 3(b) shows how the power rails (or bus strips) are connected.
(a) (b)
Figure 3
1.1(a) When you see a circuit diagram, remember that a node is simply a point in a circuit. Two or
more points connected by a wire is considered as a single node. Examine the circuit diagrams
in Figure 4 and state how many distinct nodes there are in each of the circuits.
1.1(b) Examine the breadboard shown in Figure 5 and state how many distinct nodes there are. How
many of these nodes are power rails?
Figure 5 Figure 6
1.1(d) Examine the breadboard in your ELVIS board and state how many distinct nodes and power
rails there are (excluding the two Terminal Strips on the left and right sides).
1.1(e) Consider the circuit diagram in Figure 7(a), where a 5 V battery is connected across a resistor.
If youre trying to build this circuit in your ELVIS board, you need to first place a resistor
between two different nodes, e.g. between nodes a and b in Figure 7(b). Which nodes in the
Left Terminal Strip should you connect these points to? You dont need to build the circuit.
Figure 8
Once youve built it, your goal is to draw an equivalent circuit diagram (in a manner similar to Figure
4). As you can see, two of the nodes in the circuit are connected to the +5V supply and the GROUND in
the Left Terminal Strip. If you examine the circuit closely, you should be able to conclude that this
entire circuit has a total of only four distinct nodes that matter (there may be other nodes that have no
You will perform the following three steps and check with your TA/instructor after each step. Do not
alter the circuit in the first two steps.
a) At first, draw a neat equivalent circuit diagram showing all six resistors and two capacitors.
b) Then examine the circuit and try to find out which of these components are redundant or
insignificant. Redraw the circuit without the redundant components.
c) Now take out all the redundant wires and components out of the circuit such that the reduced
circuit is still equivalent to the original one.
Figure 9
R1 1.0 k
R2 2.2 k
Table 2
Figure 10
b) To measure the voltage drop across a circuit component (i.e. the voltage difference between the
two nodes across the component), the voltmeter must be placed in parallel across that
component in question. The above figure shows how the voltage (V2) across R2 can be measured
using the voltmeter function of the DMM (check http://www.ni.com/tutorial/13559/en/#toc4
for more details on where to connect them). Fill in Table 3.
V1 (across R1)
V2 (across R2)
Table 3
c) Also, try to figure out how to use the handheld multimeter to measure this voltage. Next
measure the voltage, V1 (across R1). Fill in Table 3.
d) Measure the voltage V0. Note that V0 is the supply voltage whose nominal value is 5V. It should
also be equal to the sum of V1 and V2 since the voltage across multiple components in series is
simply the sum of the voltages across the individual components. Fill in Table 4.
V0
(across 5V
R1 and
R2 in
series)
Table 4
Figure 11
a) Measure the current, I in your circuit (you can check Exercise 1.3 from
http://www.ni.com/white-paper/13559/en/#toc4 to learn how to use the ammeter function of
Table 5
Things to remember
When you pick a resistor for building a circuit, do not just rely on the labels on the component
drawers, or even on the color codes (which give you the nominal values, as described in the next
exercise). Measure them using a multimeter to ensure you have the right value. From this point
on, you can use either the ELVIS or the handheld multimeter for measurements.
For all your calculations, use the measured resistor and supply voltage values for more accurate
estimations rather than the nominal values as you have seen there is almost always an error.
Remember that a voltage between any two nodes of a circuit can be measured simply by touching
the two probes of the voltmeter to these nodes. But when measuring current, you have to break
the circuit and allow the current to pass through the ammeter.
a) First, you will use Ohms law to find the resistance (by measuring the voltage across and
current passing through the resistor and taking the ratio). However, you SHOULD NOT
connect the 5V power supply directly across it. Because if the unknown resistor is too small (in
several ohms range), the resulting current can be very high and damage the components. Try
to think of a configuration (using one or more known resistors) to ensure that the current
through the resistor does not exceed 10 mA, regardless of the value of the unknown resistor.
In the first row of Table 6, briefly describe how you measured the unknown resistor. Also,
explain it to the TA/instructor.
Table 6
b) Next, you will examine the color codes of the resistor and deduce its value (fill in the second
row of Table 6).
Figure 12
Figure 14