Current Flow (Experiment 1)

Aim:
The purpose of this lab is to investigate how the type of resistor affects the flow of electrons in a
breadboard circuit.
Background Information:
Current flow is the flow of electric charge in electric circuits. The charge is carried by electrons
that are moving, in the wire. The electric field direction inside a circuit is defined by the direction
that the positive charges are pushed, in this experiment it is positive to negative.
Materials
1 SK-50 breadboard circuit
1 source of electricity
1 = 100 ohm resistor
1 = 1000 ohm resistor
1 = 10,000 ohm resistor
3 LEDs (preferable the same color)
Multiple Wires
Circuit

Note: The 100 ohm resistor is on the right (then the 1000 ohm and then the 10,000 ohm)
Procedures
1.) Gather the materials
2.) Assemble 3 versions of the same circuit on the single breadboard, each with a different
color coated resistor (100 ohm, 1000 ohm and 10,000 ohm)
3.) Observe the LEDs
Observations
Type of Resistor LED Brightness
100 ohms 0.05 amps (Very Bright, compared to the
others)
1000 ohms 0.005 amps (Fairly Bright, compared to the
others)
10000 ohms 0.0005 amps (Kind of Dim, compared to the
others)
Hypothesis
If a resistor has a high ohm resistance, the LEDs amperage will be less and the LED would
become dimmer.
Discussion
According to the graph, the higher amount of ohms we use, the lower the amperage of the
LED will become. When the 100 ohm resistor was used in the circuit, the LED was the brightest
and it had the highest amperage (when compared to the other ones). This was due to the fact that
the 100 ohm resistor didnt limit the electrons as much as the 1000 or the 10,000 ohms because it
had less ohms. The circuit with the 1000 ohm resistors LED was dimmer, and the amperage was
lower than the 100 ohm resistor, because it was limiting more electrons than the 100 ohm resistor
(as it is a higher color coding). When it comes to the circuit with the 10000 ohm resistor, its LED
was very dim and had the lowest amperage, because it was limiting a lot more electrons, and the
LED did not have the right amount of amperage flowing through it to be as bright as the other
ones. If during this experiment, a higher ohm resistor was to be used, the LED would probably
be too faint to even see and the amperage would be very low.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the type of resistor does affect the flow of electrons in a circuit. The higher
amount of ohms a resistor is, the more faint the LED will become. If a LED is receiving a lot of
amps, it will become brighter.
 Diodes (Experiment 2)

Position 1 Position 2

Procedure:
1. Gather the materials and create the circuit
2. Observe the LED
3. Reverse the Diode
4. Observe the LED

Observations:
Diode LED Diode Markings
st
1 position On

2nd Off
position

Discussion:
When the diode was facing the right way, the LED was lit and bright, but when the diode
was reversed the LED did not turn on at all. This was due to the fact the that the diode is a one
way terminal, and when we reversed the direction of the diode the electrons were not able to
flow through it because they were trying to enter through the negative end. If the resistor was to
be reversed, the LED would not be affected because a resistor is reversible, they conduct current
equally in either direction. Due to the fact that diodes have a polarity, if you were to reverse the
direction of it, the load would not be able to function because the diode will not allow the flow of
electrons.

Conclusion:
In conclusion, diodes are one way terminals, allowing the flow of electrons in only one direction.
If a diode were to be reversed, electrons would not be able to flow through because they cannot
enter through the negative side of the diode.
 Series and Parallel Resistor (Experiment 3)
Circuit:
Procedure:
1. Assemble the circuit
2. Observe the LED
Observations:
Circuit LED Brightness
A.) Fairly Bright
B.) Very Bright
C.) Fairly Bright

Discussion:
Circuit A.), in the series circuit, was fairly bright compared to the other ones. Even though B.)
was also in a series circuit, it was still brighter than A.). While C.) was in a parallel circuit, it had
the same brightness as the A.). When resistors in a series are connected, the total resistance in the
circuit is equal to the sum of the individual resistors. When it comes to resistors in a parallel
circuit, the total resistance is not equal to the sum of the resistors. When it comes to this
experiment, B.) was the brightest, A.) and C.) were the same. But according to these calculations:

Resistance Total for A.)

Rt = R1
Rt = 470

Resistance Total for B.)

Rt = R1 + R2
Rt = 940

Resistance Total for C.)

1/Rt = 1/R1 + 1/R2
1/Rt = 1/470 + 1/470
1/Rt = 0.00212766 + 0.00212766
1/Rt = 0.00425532
Rt = 1/0.00425532
Rt = 234.999953

C.) was supposed to be the brightest, then A.), then B.).

Places of Error(s):
The errors made during this experiment is hard to conclude to, as no errors were noticed until the
discussion. Possible faults could include, but not limited to; resistors not being properly plugged
in, fried spots on the breadboard, faulty LEDs, etc. The breadboards are fairly old, so some
places on them could be weaker/fired.

Conclusion:
To conclude, resistance is weaker when resistors are in a parallel circuit. Resistance is stronger in
a series circuit because electrons are forced to go through all the resistors, while in a parallel
circuit there are multiple paths.

Experiment 4a (A Digital Monitor)

Aim:
To test a digital monitor
Materials:
1 SK-50 breadboard circuit
1 source of electricity
One 470 ohm resistor
1 LED
Multiple Wires
Circuit:
Ground Bus (Logic 0/Low)

Volt Bus (Logic 1/High)

Procedure:
1. Assemble the circuit
2. Connect he input wire to ground bus
3. Then connect it to a 5-volt bus
Observations:
Input LED

High On

Low Off

Discussion:
When a circuit is in the state of ground bus, the LED will not turn on, and if it were to be
plugged in, it would short circuit and fry the breadboard. When the circuits input is a 5-volt bus
(Logic High), the LED will turn on. This circuit could be used to monitor a digital circuit, the
3DSs (Nintendos relatively new handheld console) internet connection. When using the 3DSs
online capabilities, a light appears on the device that flickers. If the circuit for that light were to
be replaced with this circuit, it would basically act as the same thing. The LED on this would
flicker at the same rate as the original light. The logic high and low can be detected with binary,
1 = high 0 = low (or when the LED is on = 1 , when it is off = 0).
Conclusion:
In conclusion, the two states of a digital circuit are Logic Low and Logic High. During this
experiment the LED was on during logic high, and off during logic low. This is because, logic
high is basically a regular circuit, while in logic low the electricity is going in circles and will
short circuit.
 Experiment 4b (A Digital Monitor)
Materials:
1 SK-50 breadboard circuit
1 source of electricity
One 330 ohm resistor
One 47k ohm resistor
One 2N3393 Transistor
1 LED
Multiple Wires
Circuit:
Logic High
Logic Low

Procedure:
1. Assemble the circuit
2. Connect he input wire to ground bus
3. Then connect it to a 5-volt bus

Observations:
Input LED
High On
Low Off
Discussion:
This experiment was very similar to 4a, logic is one of the finite states a digital circuit can be in.
There are 2 types, logic low and logic high, logic low, In this experiment, when the circuit was in
logic low, it remained off, but when it was in logic high, it turned on. When in logic high, it was
basically in a regular circuit, but when it was put into logic low, it had 2 wires touching ground
bus. This circuit would work the same as a computer processor, in the fact that the LED would
flicker when receiving signals from the Ethernet.

Conclusion:
In conclusion, the two states of a digital circuit are Logic Low and Logic High. During this
experiment the LED was on during logic high, and off during logic low. This is because, logic
high is basically a regular circuit, while in logic low the circuit is connected to ground bus twice.
 Experiment 5 (7-Segment Display)
Circuit:
Observations:
Pin Number LED Segment
1 A
2 F
3 Do Not Connect
4 N/A
5 N/A
6 None
7 B
8 D
9 Right Dot
10 C
11 G
12 N/A
13 B
14 Do Not Connect
 Experiment 6 (AND Gates)
Circuit:
A and B Connected to Logic High

A Connected to Logic High, B Connected to Logic Low

A Connected to Logic Low, B Connected to Logic High

A and B Connected to Logic Low

Observations:
Input A Input B LED Output
High High High
High Low Low
Low High Low
Low Low Low
 Experiment 7 (OR Gates)
Circuit:
A and B connected to logic high

A connected to logic high, B connected to logic low

A connected to logic low, B connected to logic high

A and B connected to logic low

Observations:
Input A Input B Output
High High High
High Low High
 Low High High
Low Low Low

Discussion:
In order for the breadboard to reach an output state of 5 volts, input A and input B must be high
or low. As long as one of the inputs, A or B, is in a high state the LED will always turn on.
For the output to equal 0 volts, both input A and B need to be in a low state. So far as both
inputs are low, the LED will not turn on.
Conclusion:
To conclude, in an OR gate as long as one of the wires is in logic high, the LED/load will turn
on. If the gate is receiving at least one high state from its inputs, whether it be A or B, it will
always produce an output.