ELEMENTARY ELECTRICAL MEASUREMENTS

PHYSICS 212LABORATORY 3

OBJECTIVES
The objectives of this laboratory are that you learn how to measure potential difference, resistance, and current, and how to test Ohms Law.

EQUIPMENT
Digital multimeter 6-V flashlight battery (D-cell) 6-V transistor battery Resistor boards 22-, 20-, 18-gauge NiChrome wire 22-, 20-, 18-gauge copper wire Analog Devices power supply Assorted resistors Resistor code chart Alligator clips w/ probe (red & black) Calipers Meter stick or metric tape

THE DIGITAL MULTIMETER

The meter shown in Figure 1 (next page) will measure potential difference (volts, V), electrical resistance (ohms, ), or current (amps, A), depending on the setting of the knob and the selection of terminals at the bottom of the meter into which the test leads are inserted. Pay close attention to instructions about these settings. Errors in settings will give erroneous results and could damage the meter.

MEASURING DC POTENTIAL DIFFERENCE

The abbreviation DC is used for direct current, meaning that the electric charge always tries to flow one direction only. Set the selection knob to V -----, and connect the red and black test leads to the terminals labeled V and COM as shown in Figure 2. The meter will read the potential difference V between the red and black probe tips. The intent is that the red terminal will be in contact with a higher (more positive)

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potential than the black terminal. However, reversing the red and black terminals is not a serious error the meter will simply indicate a negative value on its display.

Figure 1Sample digital multimeter. [Note: Yours may look a bit different.]

Figure 2Measuring potential difference of a battery.

Batteries are good examples of DC systems. For a flashlight battery, the positive and negative terminals are at the ends of the battery. Measure the potential difference of a flashlight battery (D-cell, 6V). To measure the potential difference of a transistor battery, recognize that the positive and negative terminals are connectors on the top of the battery. Measure the potential difference of a transistor battery. Your third measurement will be the potential differences between the red and black terminals on the Analog Devices power supply (Figure 3). The power supply is essentially a substitute for a battery which takes its energy from the wall outlet and produces potentials at the colored terminals. Plug the power supply in and turn the switch on, then make your measurements.

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Figure 3Sample power supply.

MEASURING AC POTENTIAL DIFFERENCE

The term AC means alternating current, a system in which the direction of the electric flow changes periodically. The electricity present at a wall outlet is commonly called 110 volt 60 cycle, meaning that the direction of the current changes (oscillates) 60 times per second. You will probably find that the potential difference is not exactly 110 volts. Set selection knob to V , and leave the red and black test leads connected to the terminals labeled V and COM as in Figure 4. This measurement could be dangerous if done incorrectly. Double check your meter settings, and grasp the test probes by the plastic handles. The plastic is designed to insulate you from the potential of the outlet. Do not allow your hands to touch the metal tips of the test probes. Insert the tips of the probes into the terminals of the outlet and move them into contact with the metal connectors inside the outlet. The rounded terminal at the bottom of the outlet is called the grounding terminal and has a potential of zero (when correctly wired). Measure and record the potential difference between the three possible pairs of terminals in the outlet. From the fact that the potential of the grounding terminal is zero deduce the potentials of the longer and shorter slot-shaped terminals.

Figure 4Measuring potential difference of a wall outlet.

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MEASURING RESISTANCE
The difficulty that electric charge has in flowing through an object is called the electrical resistance of the object and is given in units of ohms, abbreviated . Thus, it is more difficult for electric charge to flow through an object with resistance of 100 than through an object with resistance 10 . Set the selection knob to 0, and leave the red and black test leads connected to the terminals labeled V 9 and COM as in Figure 5. The meter will display the resistance between tips of the red and black test probes. You should not touch the tips of the probes while making a resistance measurement, because the resistance of your body may affect the result of your measurement.

Figure 5Measuring resistance.

Electrical components called resistors can be manufactured to have a wide range of electrical resistance by varying the composition of the material from which the resistor is made.

Exercise 1:
Measure the resistance R of a set of resistors designated by your laboratory instructor. Label them R1, R2, , Rn and record these resistances on the data sheet. Also record a brief description of each resistor (such as color or size) so that you can identify it later in the experiment. Note that the color codes are standardized for electrical resistors, and cue-cards can be obtained from most electrical-supply, specialty electronic, Radio Shack stores, or electric-component supply catalogues.

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Exercise 2:
Resistance also depends not only on the composition of the conductor but also on the cross-sectional area of the conductor and its length. On the resistance board shown below (Figure 6) you will mount 3-m lengths of nickel-chromium (NiChrome) wire. Our setup is not like this picture below but you should be able to ascertain the specific lengths of the wire.

Figure 6Three lengths of wire are mounted on the resistance board, the holes of which are 1 m apart. To get a 2-m length, use two holes; for 3-m, use three holes.

The holes in the wooden resistance board are placed one meter apart, making it easy to measure the resistance of 1-, 2-, or 3-m lengths of a wire, as shown in Figure 7.

Figure 7Measuring resistance of a 3-m length of wire. (Indicated reading on Multimeter are for demonstration purposes only and are probably not correct for your materials.)

Measure the resistance of 1-, 2-, and 3-m lengths of each gauge of NiChrome wire, and record in the data sheet. The resistance of such short lengths of wire is low, so it is important to get a good contact between the probe tip and the wire. Poor contact can introduce additional resistance, giving an erroneous result. It is better to touch the probe to the wire itself rather than to a screw about which the wire is wound, because the electrical contact between the wire and the screw may not be good. With the calipers, measure the diameter (D) of the wire and calculate the cross-sectional area (A) of the wire from the formula:

A = r 2 =

D 2 , 4

where r is the radius of the wire and D is its diameter. Record the cross sectional areas on the data sheet.

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MEASURING CURRENT
Connect resistor Rl to the red and black terminals of the power supply as shown in Figure 8 and turn the supply on. Current is forced from the higher-potential terminal, through the resistor into the lowerpotential terminal.

Figure 8Simple circuit.

The setting and connection of the meter to measure the current flowing through the resistor is critical. Note in Figure 9 that the red test lead is connected to the 300-mA (milliamperes) terminal of the meter. This means that the meter will read in units of milliamperes. The knob is set to the direct current position, A -----. Note carefully how the meter is connected to the circuit. First, the circuit is broken open, which can conveniently be done by removing the alligator clip from the resistor. Then, the meter is connected so that it bridges the gap created in the circuit. Thus, all of the current that was flowing through the resistor in Figure 8 must now flow through the meter and then through the resistor. When the red test lead is connected to the 300-mA terminal of the meter, it is very easy for charge to flow through the meter-the resistance of the meter itself is very low. Thus the meter has little effect on the amount of charge that flows, and the current will be almost exactly the same as it was in Figure 8.

Figure 9Correct connection. The charge must flow through both the meter and the resistor.

Figure 9 shows the meter connected correctly, and Figure 10 shows the meter connected incorrectly. With the incorrect connection, the charge does not have to flow through the resistor to get from the red to the black terminal of the power supply, because the meter provides an alternate path. Because the charge does not have to flow through the resistor, much more current flows from the power supply with this

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connection than in Figure 9, and, because most of the excess current goes through the meter, the meter could be damaged.

Figure 10Incorrect connection. The charge does not have to flow through the resistor to complete the circuit. The meter may be damaged.

Exercise 4:
Measure the current flowing through R1 as described in Figure 9 and record your result on the data sheet. Ohm's Law states that the current, i, is given in terms of the potential difference V and the resistance R by the equation

i=

V . R

Calculate the current from Ohms Law using the V between the red and black terminals, which you measured in the potential-difference section, and the resistance R1., which you measured in the resistance section. Repeat this for resistor R2 and the other resistors.

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DATA SHEETS ELEMENTARY ELECTRICAL MEASUREMENTS

Name ______________________________________________________________________ DC Electric Potential Measurements
Flashlight Battery ___________________ Transistor Battery _________________ Power Supply ______________________

AC Electric Potential Measurements

Short Slot to Round Slot ___________________ Long Slot to Round Slot ___________________ Short Slot to Long Slot ____________________
Resistance Exercise 1
Measured Resistance Color 1 Color 2 Color 3 Color 4 Coded Resistance

Resistance Exercise 2
Measured Resistance Length of Wire Diameter of Wire Cross Sectional Area of Wire Resistivity Error

Current Exercise 3 and 4

Resistance DC Electric Potential Measured Current Calculated Current Error

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