Results and Discussions Table 1.

2 Resistance Measurement of the

Internal Resistance of an Analog Voltmeter
In this experiment, electrical variables
like Voltage, Resistance and Current were Analog 30 100 300
measured using different electrical instruments. Voltmeter V V V
Some of these instruments include analog range
multimeter, digital multimeter, voltmeter, Voltmeter 78.6 262.4 788.0
ammeter, and clamp ammeter. For the first part, internal k k k
different resistances ranging from 10-100 ohms resistance
were measured using Analog meter and Digital
meter. From the obtained data, it was found out The internal resistance of the ammeter
that both meter readings were able to get the was measured to be 0.2 ohms. Compared to the
resistance with a small difference to the true value internal resistance of the voltmeter, the
as shown in Table 1.1. But it was observed that ammeter’s internal resistance is much smaller. In
the digital multimeter obtained a more accurate fact, the ideal ammeter has zero internal
results than the analog meter. resistance so as to drop as little voltage as
Table 1.1 Resistance Measurement of Resistors possible as electrons flow through the circuit. [5]
The data gathered also shows that with different
10 25 50 75 100 currents, the internal resistance of the ammeter
     remains constant as shown in Table 1.3.
Analog 10.9 24.8 53.0 78.0 103.0
Meter      Table 1.3 Resistance Measurement of the
Reading Internal Resistance of an Analog Ammeter
Digital 10.8 23.6 52.6 77. 0 101.1
Analog 1 3 10 30
Meter     
Reading Current A A A A
range
%Error of 9.0 0.8 6.0 4.0 3.0
Ammeter 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2
Analog % % % % %
meter
internal    
resistance
% Error 8.0 5.6 5.2 2.67 1.1
of Digital % % % % % After measuring the internal resistances,
meter the voltage flowing through the connection of a
power supply, a varying magnitude of resistor,
The resistance that was measured in the and a voltmeter was measured. Since varying
previous part is called external resistance, loads of resistor are used, the voltage in each
because it is present in the external circuit. In the circuit should also vary as stated in Ohm’s Law.
second part, the internal resistances of the But it was found out that with different loads of
voltmeter and ammeter were obtained. Internal resistor, the measured voltage was not affected
resistance is the resistance present in a battery and the reading remains constant to at most 10 V
or other voltage source that causes a drop in the as shown in Table 1.4. This happens because of
source voltage when there is a current. [3] When the presence of a power supply. A power source
the internal resistance of the voltmeter was provides a constant voltage to a load, even
measured as presented in Table 1.2, results despite changes and variance in load resistance.
[6]
show that its resistance becomes larger and
larger as the voltage increases. Therefore, Table 1.4 Voltmeter Reading with Power Supply
voltage and resistance have directly proportional
relationship. Internal resistance plays an 10 25 50 75 100
important role in voltmeter. Voltmeters should     
have a very high internal resistance. In fact, an Voltmeter 9.8 9.9 10.0 10.0 10.0
Reading V V V V V
ideal voltmeter has an infinite resistance, so that
it draws no current from the circuit under test. [4]
 The next electrical variable tested was
the current. The ammeter is connected in series
with the load resistor and power supply. The
computed value of current through the circuit was
calculated using the Ohm’s Law. This law states
that the voltage is a product of current and
resistance as shown in Equation 1.
V=IR [1]
From this equation, the formula for current is
derived as:
V But sometimes instrumental error could also
I=R [2]
where V is the voltage flowing through the circuit
given by the power supply equal to 10 V and R
is the resistance connected in it. A total of five
resistors were used to test if current will vary as
the resistor’s load changes.
Experimental errors are inevitable,
particularly that measurements were all done
using electrical instruments. In this experiment,
two types of instruments were used; analog and
digital devices. One disadvantage of an analog
instrument is that the data is measured by
approximation and human error is often involved
in reading. Unlike the digital ones, it provides a
digital readout that eliminates human error. As
what was observed, digital multimeter and clamp
ammeter provided a more accurate readings
compared to the analog multimeter and ammeter.
occur in using digital meters. In case of
fluctuations or transient, it can record an error. [7]
In other words, there’s no 100 percent accurate
instrument. Synonymously like what the 2nd law
of thermodynamics states, heat engine can never
operate at 100 percent efficiency.

Based from the gathered data as shown

in Table 1.5, it was found out that the current
decreases when the resistance becomes larger.
This means that current and resistance have an
inversely proportional relationship as what the
Ohm’s Law states. Another observation was also
noted regarding the accuracy of the instruments.
Based from the computed errors of the two
instruments, the clamp ammeter gives a more
accurate reading compared to the ammeter. This
clamp ammeter measures current through a wire
by measuring the strength of the magnetic field
around it rather than by becoming part of the
circuit. This makes it an ideal ammeter because
there is no conductive contact between the meter
and the circuit. [5]
References:
[3] Internal Resistance. Retrieved August 25, 2018 from
https://www.dictionary.com/browse/internal-resistance
[4] Voltmeter Impact on Measured Circuit. Retrieved August
25,2018 from
https://www.allaboutcircuits.com/textbook/direct-current/chpt-
8/voltmeter-impact-measured-circuit/
[5] Ammeter Impact on Measured Circuit. Retrieved August
25, 2018 from
https://www.allaboutcircuits.com/textbook/direct-current/chpt-
8/ammeter-impact-measured-circuit/
[6] What is a constant voltage source?. Retrieved August 26,
2018 from
http://www.learningaboutelectronics.com/Articles/What-is-a-
constant-voltage-source.php

Table 1.5 Ammeter Reading with Power Supply [7] Pros and Cons of digital multimeter. Retrieved August 27,
2018 from https://www.brighthubengineering.com/consumer-
10 25 50 75 100 appliances-electronics/113975-pros-and-cons-of-digital-
     multimeters/
Ammeter 0.96 0.38 0.18 0.12 0.09
Reading A A A A A
Clamp 0.97 0.41 0.22 0.14 0.10
Ammeter A A A A A
Computed 1 0.4 0.2 0.133 0.10
Value A A A A A
% Error of 4.0 5.0 10.0 9.77 10.0
Ammeter % % % % %
% Error of 3.0 2.5 10.0 5.26 0
Clamp % % % % %
Ammeter
Appendix

To get how far the experimental value

from the accepted value is, the formula written
below is used. The theoretical value came from
assigned value written in the resistors used and
the experimental value is the value that was
measured in the performed experiment.

|𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑜𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒−𝐸𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒|

%Error=
𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑜𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒

Here is a sample calculation where data is

obtained from Table 1.1

|10.0 −10.9 |
%Error of Analog meter =
10

%Error of Analog meter = 9.0%

To get the true current flowing through the

circuit in an ammeter connection, the equation
below is used. The I represents the current, V is
the voltage produced by the power supply equal
to 10 V and R is the load resistance that is
connected in the circuit.

𝑉
𝐼=
𝑅

Here is a sample calculation where data is

obtained from Table 1.5

10 𝑉
𝐼=
10 

I=1A