Computer

22
OhmsLaw
ArisaraK.

NoramonK.

PiyapornR.

NuttachaI. NuntineeM.

Thefundamentalrelationshipamongthethreeimportantelectricalquantities
current
,
voltage
,and
resistance
wasdiscoveredbyGeorgSimonOhm.Therelationshipandtheunitofelectrical
resistancewerebothnamedforhimtocommemoratethiscontributiontophysics.Onestatementof
Ohmslawisthatthecurrentthrougharesistorisproportionaltothevoltageacrosstheresistor.In
thisexperimentyouwillseeifOhmslawisapplicabletoseveraldifferentcircuitsusingaCurrent
ProbeandaVoltageProbe.
Currentandvoltagecanbedifficulttounderstand,becausetheycannotbeobserveddirectly.To
clarifytheseterms,somepeoplemakethecomparisonbetweenelectricalcircuitsandwaterflowing
inpipes.Hereisachartofthethreeelectricalunitswewillstudyinthisexperiment.
ElectricalQuantity

Description

Unit

Volt(V)

VoltageorPotential AmeasureoftheEnergy
Difference
differenceperunitcharge
betweentwopointsina
circuit.
Current
Ameasureoftheflowof Ampere(A)
chargeinacircuit.

Resistance
Ameasureofhow
Ohm(

)
difficultitisforcurrentto
flowinacircuit.

WaterAnalogy

WaterPressure

Amountofwater
flowing
Ameasureofhow
difficultitisforwater
toflowthroughapipe.

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OhmsLaw
Figure1

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OhmsLaw

OBJECTIVES
Determinethemathematicalrelationshipbetweencurrent,potentialdifference,and
resistanceinasimplecircuit.

Comparethepotential
vs
.currentbehaviorofaresistortothatofalightbulb.

HYPOTHESIS

Theresistance,voltageandcurrenthaverelationshipfollowOhmsLawR=V/I.
Incircuit,whichconnectwithlightbulb,increasingofvoltagemakeresistanceincrease.

MATERIALS
Computer
Verniercomputerinterface
Logger
Pro
oneVernierCurrentProbeand
oneVernierDifferentialVoltageProbe
PowerAmplifier

VernierCircuitBoard,
or
Wires
clipstoholdwires

tworesistors(about1and100

)
Lightbulb(6V)

PROCEDURE
1. Openthefile22OhmsLawinthe
PhysicswithVernier
folder.Agraphofpotential
vs
.
currentwillbedisplayed.Themeterdisplayspotentialandcurrentreadings.
2. ConnecttheCurrentProbetoChannel1andtheDifferentialVoltageProbetoChannel2
ofthecomputerinterface.Connecttheaudiojackofthepoweramplifiertothespeaker
jackoftheLabQuest
3. Withthepoweramplifierturnedoff,connectthepoweramplifier,100

resistor,wires,
andclipsasshowninFigure1.Takecarethatthepositiveleadfromthepoweramplifier
andtheredterminalfromtheCurrent&VoltageProbeareconnectedasshowninFigure
1.
Note:
Attachtheredconnectorselectricallyclosertothepositivesideofthepower
supply.
4. Haveyourteachercheckthearrangementofthewiresbeforeproceeding.
5. OpentheSensorSetupWindow.ClickonthePowerAmplifiericon.SetvoltagetoDC
(DirectCurrent).Setthevoltageto0Vandthenturnonthepoweramplifier.
6. Click
.Adialogboxwillappear.Click

tozerobothsensors.Thissetsthe

zeroforbothprobeswithnocurrentflowingandwithnovoltageapplied.

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OhmsLaw
7. Click

tobegindatacollection.Click

tosavethefirstpointofyourgraph.

8. Increasethevoltagetoapproximately1V.Click
9. Increaseagainthevoltagebyabout1V.Click
reachavoltageof5V.
10. Click

.Repeatthisprocessuntilyou

andsetthevoltagebackto0V.

11. ClicktheLinearFitbutton,
.Recordtheslopeand
y
interceptoftheregressionlinein
thedatatable,alongwiththeirunits.
12. Saveacopyofyourgraphandyourfile.UseSaveas.SelectEraseandcontinue
thenexttimeyoustartcollectingdata.
13. Withthepoweramplifieroff,replacethe100resistorwiththe1resistor.
14. Turnthepoweramplifieragainandrepeatsteps312usingthe1resistor.
CAUTION:Thistimeincreasethevoltagefrom0to1Vinstepsof0.2V
15. Withthepoweramplifieroff,replacetheresistorwiththelightbulbprovidedtoyou
16. Turnthepoweramplifieragainandrepeatsteps310withthelightbulb.Usestepsof0.6
untilyoureach6V.
17. Takeapictureofthelightbulbunderthesamecameraconditionsfor0,1.8,4.2and6V.
18. Usethefirstthreepointsofyourgraphtofindtheslopeofthegraph.Also,usethelast3
pointsofyourgraphtofindtheslopeofthegraph.Recordthesevaluesinthetable.

DATATABLE
1.Fillthefollowingtablewiththedatacollectedwithyourexperiment.Includethistableinthe
resultssectionofyourreport

Slopeofregressionline
(V/A)

Yinterceptofregression
line(V)

Resistor
1.0

0.9716

0.001872

Resistor
100

97.11

0.01112

Lightbulb(first3pts)

9.067

Lightbulb(last3pts)

21.80

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OhmsLaw

Thisgraphshowsrelationshipofpotentialdifferenceandelectriccurrentwhenresistance=1.0

Thisgraphshowsrelationshipofpotentialdifferenceandelectriccurrentwhenresistance=100

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OhmsLaw

Thisgraphshowsrelationshipofpotentialdifferenceandelectriccurrentwhenthecircuitconnectedwith
lightbulb,andshowstheslopeof3firstpointsandtheslopeof3lastpoints.

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OhmsLaw
2.Includeinyourlabreportthepicturesofthelightbulbunderdifferentvoltages.Underthepicture
includethevoltageandpowerusedineachcase.Usethevoltagesandcurrentsthatyourecordedin
yourdatafiles.(Power=Voltage*Current).

EventNumber

Current
(A)

Potential
(V)

Power

0.0001

0.000

0.0966

0.397

0.3599

0.1486

0.896

0.1331

0.1953

1.425

0.2783

0.2388

1.967

0.4697

0.2834

2.493

0.7065

0.3158

3.042

0.9607

0.3452

3.584

1.2372

0.3736

4.136

1.5452

10

0.4005

4.698

1.8815

11

0.4235

5.227

2.2136

Wedonothaveenoughtimetotakeapicturesowehavetodothetablebyourself.Thistable
showcurrentandvoltageandwearecalculatethepowerbyusecurrentmultiplybyvoltage.

ANALYSIS
Asthepotentialacrosstheresistorincreased,thecurrentthroughtheresistorincreased.Ifthe
changeincurrentis
proportional
tothevoltage,thedatashouldbeinastraightlineandit
shouldgothroughzero.
1. Inthesetwoexampleshowcloseisthe
y
intercepttozero?
Ans: Veryclose,theyinterceptis0.001872whenresistor=1.0,andyintercept=0.0112
whenresistoris100

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OhmsLaw
2. Whatdotheslopesofyourgraphsrepresent(Graph:Voltagevs.Current)?Arethosethe
valuesthatyouwouldexpect?
Ans: Slopeinthiscaseisthevalueofresistorbecauseyaxisrepresentsavoltagewhile
xaxisrepresentsacurrent.Slopeofthegraphthatthroughzeroisvoltage/Currentso
itisresistancefollowingthisequationR=V/I.Theresultshowsthevalueofslope
areclosetovaluesofresistorasweexpect.
3. DoyourresistorsfollowOhmslaw?Baseyouransweronyourexperimentaldata.
Ans: AccordingtoR=V/Iequationthatshowsrelationshipofresistance,potential
differenceandelectriccurrent.OurresistorsfollowOhmslawwhichpresentbythe
valuesofslope(V/I)aresoclosewithvaluesofresistors.
4. Ifyouwantedtooperateeachresistoratthesamecurrentof0.5A,atwhatvoltagewould
youhavetooperateeachresistor?
Ans: Ifvalueoftheresistorincrease,thevoltageshouldbeincreaseandifthevalueofthe
resistordecrease,thevoltageshouldbedecrease.WecanuseequationV=IRto
calculatevoltagethatweshouldoperateineachresistor.
5. Describewhathappenedtothecurrentthroughthelightbulbasthevoltageincreased.Was
thechangelinear?Sincetheslopeofthelinearregressionlineisameasureofresistance,
describewhathappenedtotheresistanceasthevoltageincreased.
Ans: Theresistanceincreasesameasvoltage,whenweincreasethevoltagetheresistance
increasesamecauseofthelinearealittlecurve.Wenoticethattheresistance
increasebyslope,infirst3points,slopeis9.067andlast3points,slopeis21.80so
theslopeisresistancethenwecanseeresistanceincreasingexactly.
6. Sincethelightbulbgetsbrighterasitgetshotter,howdoestheresistancevarywith
temperature?
Ans: Theresistanceincreasewhenvoltageincrease.Voltageincreasingmeansthelight
bulbgetsbrighteranditgetshotter.SoTheresistanceincreasewhenthetemperature
increasetoo.
7. DoesyourlightbulbfollowOhmslaw?Baseyouransweronyourexperimentaldata.
Ans: ThelightbulbdoesnotfollowtheOhmslawbecausethegraphiscurve.Ifisfollow
theOhmslawthegraphshouldbelinear.Ithavesomefactorthatmakethegraph
curve.Thesefactorarewhenthevoltageincreasethenitmakethepowerincrease,
thepowerincreasemakethetemperatureincreaseandincreaseoftemperaturemake
theresistanceincrease.

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OhmsLaw

CONCLUSION
Thehypothesisiscorrect.Therelationshipofresistance,voltageandcurrentfollowOhms
LawR=V/I.Thegraphshowsrelationshipofpotentialdifferencewhereisyaxisandelectric
currentwhereisxaxis.Theslopeofthegraphthatthroughzeroisvoltage/Currentsoitisresistance
asthisequationR=V/I.Forcheckingthiswecompareslopewithvalueofresistorthatisalmostthe
same.Baseonourresulttheresistor1
,
theslopeis0.9716andthetheresistor100
,
theslopeis
97.11.Thereforeourfirsthypothesisiscorrect.
FollowingtheOhmsLawR=V/I,therelationshipofvoltageandresistordirect
variationwhenelectricalcurrentisconstant.Whenweconnectlightbulbwiththecircuitand
changerateofvoltage,theresistancealsoincrease.Weknowsthatbythevalueofslope,inour
resultfirst3pointsslopeis9.067andlast3pointsslopeis21.80,theseresultshowstheresistance
increaseexactly.Ourgrapharecurvebecauseofthatincreasing.Causeoftheresistanceincrease
anddifferencefromtheOhmsLawistemperature.Increasingoftemperaturemakesresistance
increasewhenvoltageincrease,thelightintensityandpowerincreasesothatmakethelightbulb
hotter.
Forimprovement,weshoulddothisexperimentquickerthanthistimeforhavemoretimeto
takeapictureoflightbulb,showsthatintensityisincreasing.Weshouldtomakesurethatweset
zerobeforewerecordtheresultbecausethefirstpointshouldbe(0,0)andoneofthegraphwe
repeatthesamepointthatuseless.

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