Accelerated Physics

OHM'S LAW
LAB REPORT BY

Nichaporn Nattawut
Witchayut Ngarmpornchai
Vanessa Rujipatanakul

Miss Susana Alulod 

Mahidol University International
 Demonstration School

Semester 2 Academic year 2017-2018

 OBJECTIVE
Determine the
mathematical relationship
between current, potential
difference, and resistance
in a simple circuit

Determine if the Ohm's

Law is applicable for
different circuits.
 INTRODUCTION
    Ohm’s law is the description of the relationship between
three important electrical identities: current, voltage, and
resistance. It was the result of investigation by a German
physicist named Georg Simon Ohm, who the law got its name
after. The amount of steady current (I) through a large number
of materials is directly proportional to the potential difference,
voltage (V), across the materials. Therefore, if the voltage
between two ends of a wire made from one of these materials
is tripled, the current also triples. In that case, the quotient V/I,
which is the resistance (R), remains constant. Ohm’s law may
be expressed mathematically as V/I = R.

      As electrical identities cannot be observed directly, it might

be difficult to perceive. For a better understanding, some
people make a comparison between the electrical circuit and
the water flowing in pipe. Current, a measure of the flow of the
charge in the circuit with the unit of Ampere (A), can be
compared with the amount of water flowing in the pipe.
Voltage or potential difference, a measure of the energy
difference per unit charge between two points in a circuit with
the unit of Volt (V), can be compared with the water pressure
that help the water to flow through the pipe. Resistance, a
measure of how difficult it is for current to flow in the circuit
with the unit of Ohms (Ω), can be compared to restriction in
the pipe. 
MATERIALS
2 multimeters used
as voltmeter and
ammeter

labquest

 a wire with clips

 2 resistors of 100
ohm and 1000 ohm

power amplifier

accessories
 PROCEDURE
1. With the power amplifier turned off, connect the circuit as shown in figure.
Then set current range and voltage range as instructed in the table below.
Note: Attach the red connectors electrically closer to the positive side of the
power supply.
2. Have Lab Tech/ TA check the arrangement of the wires before proceeding
3. Turn on the switch. Adjust and increase the output voltage of the power
amplifier from 2.0 V to 10.0 V in step of 2.0 V as indicated in Table 1. Record the
corresponding reading of the voltmeter and ammeter on 2nd 3rd column
respectively.
4. Repeat the process until you finish all of the 5 runs.
5. Compute for the value of the resistance by dividing the voltmeter reading to
the ammeter reading.
6. Compare this computed value of the resistance with the true value of the
resistor used in the circuit.
7. Turn the power amplifier off then replace the first resistor with the second
resistor.
8. Ask Lab Tech/ TA to recheck your circuit connection before proceed,
9. Turn on the power amplifier again and repeat steps 1-6 using the second
resistor
Caution: Change the ammeter’s current range accordingly.
SET UP
DATA AND
RESULT
CALCULATION
GRAPH
 ANALYSIS
     As the graph shows, it can be noticed that the two
lines on the graph are reasonably straight, which mean
that the same constant is used and multiplied by other
numbers. When the voltage increases throughout the
experiment, the ammeter can measure an increase in
the current in a circuit. We already expected this result
as the Ohm’s law we studied before stated that the
quotient between the voltage and the current always
remains constant.
      Even though, the result of this experiment is quite
what we expected, there is a slight error occurred. The
possible cause of the error was the inaccuracy when
we were reading the data of the voltage and the
current from the multimeter, which was due to human
error. The possible way of minimizing this error is to
obtain data several times and compare them so that
we would get a more precise data.
 CONCLUSION
      From the experiment, it can be
concluded that the value of current is
directly proportional to the value of voltage.
If the voltage increases, the current of that
same circuit will increases with the same
rate. It can also be seen that the quotient
between the voltage and the current always
remains constant. The formula V/I = R can
be applicable to circuits with different value
of electrical identities.
RECOMMENDATION
     From doing this experiment, it can
be said that it is quite hard to identify
the exact value of the current in a
circuit as the number is moving pretty
fast. So, the value that we read might
not be that accurate which means
that in next time, it is better to obtain
information more than one time and
compare to get more precise data. In
addition, it is better to spend more
time on each trial to be more careful
in each process as this time, we are
quite rush during the experiment and
that might create some errors. 
 QUESTIONS AND
ANSWERS
1) Differentiate the devices in each group by giving their specific use in
an electric circuit.
     a) Ammeter, Galvanometer, Voltmeter
     b) Rheostat, Resistor, Switch
     c) Cell, Battery
Ammeter = use to measure the magnitude of the current. The ideal
ammeter will have very low amount of resistance or zero ohm because
it need to connect in series with the circuit so if it have resistance then
the value of current might be inaccurate
Galvanometer = use to measure very small amount of the current and
voltage of the circuit
Voltmeter = use to measure the volt that the resistor use so in need to
connect parallel to the resistor. By connect parallel with the circuit it
need to have very high amount of resistance or infinity ohms. Normally
the current will choose to go to less resistance path so if the the
voltmeter connected parallel to the circuit it need infinity ohm to block
the current to measure accurate amount of volts.
Rheostat = it is a adjustable resistance so it will control amount of the
current.
Resistor = use to reduce the current flow
Switch = use to stop the current flow or bond the circuit together
Cell = supply power and it convert the chemical reaction energy to the
electrical energy. Make the current flow from the cathode side to the
anode side. (Cathode + ,anode -)
Battery = use to convert the chemical reaction energy to electric energy.
 QUESTIONS AND
ANSWERS
2) A 14 ohm coffee maker and a 16 ohm frying fan are connected in
series across a 120 volt source of voltage. A 23 ohm bread toaster is
also connected across  the 120 volt source and is in parallel with the
series combination.
     a) Draw a circuit diagram.
     b) Find the total current applied by the source of voltage.
 REFERENCES
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica.
(2018). Ohm’s law. Retrieved from
https://www.britannica.com/science/Oh
ms-law

All About Circuits. (2001). An Analogy for

Ohm’s Law. Retrieved from
https://www.allaboutcircuits.com/textbo
ok/direct-current/chpt-2/analogy-ohms-
law/
WORK LOG