1

Lab Report #4 Basic Resistive Circuits

Introduction
)he three *undamental +ro+erties o* resisti"e circuits include ,hm-s law% .ircho**-s
/urrent 0aw 1./02% and .ircho**-s 3oltage 0aw 1.302( ,hm-s law shows that "oltage is e4ual
to the +roduct o* the current running through an element and a constant coe**icient called
resistance( ./0 states that the sum o* the currents going into or out o* a node o* interconnected
elements is e4ual to zero( .30 +ro"es that the sum o* "oltages around a closed loo+ o*
interconnected elements is e4ual to zero( 'n this e5+eriment these three laws were "eri*ied #y
constructing a resisti"e circuit to measure actual current% "oltage and resistance "alues(
E4uations were de"elo+ed #ased on the circuit% using the three *undamental laws% and the
measurements were +ut into the e4uations to "eri*y the accuracy o* the laws(
Apparatus
1 6lu7e 80&0A Digital Multi9Meter
1 :enith E)1000 Bread#oard ; D/ <ower Source
= Resistors 11.> to 10.>)
& ?ires 1*or connecting resistors2
?ires w; Alligator /li+s 1*or DMM2
Experimental Procedure
)he resisti"e circuit was constructed #y +lacing the wires and resistors into the
#read#oard li7e the schematic shown in *igure 1(
i1
i i3
i= i& i@
31
R
3 33
3@ 3&
3=
R1
R3
R@ R&
R= 3s
a #
7 h g *
c d e
Figure ! A sc"ematic diagram o# t"e experimental resistive circuit$
,nce the circuit was constructed% the digital multimeter was set to 7> and each resistor
was indi"idually remo"ed and measured( )hen the "oltage source was set to a++ro5imately 03
and "oltage measurements were ta7en across each element in the circuit( )o measure the "oltage
across an element% the +ositi"e terminal o* the digital multimeter was +laced in contact with the
+ositi"e end o* the element and the ground terminal was +laced in contact with the negati"e end
o* the element 1e**ecti"ely +arallel to the element2( )o determine the current running through
each element% the digital multimeter was set to milli9am+eres and was +laced in series #etween
the element and the node to which it was attached( )he digital multimeter was oriented so that
3
the ar#itrary direction o* the current% signi*ied #y the arrows in *igure 1% would enter the +ositi"e
terminal and e5it the ground terminal o* the multimeter( )he im+lementation o* the
measurements in the "eri*ication +rocess was outlined in the *ollowing results and discussion
section(
Results and %iscussion
)he measurements ta7en *rom the resisti"e circuit are shown in ta#le 1(
&able ! Results o# probing t"e experimental circuit$
Element A 3oltage 132 /urrent 1i2 Resistance 1R2
1 =(=8 3 1(&0@ mA @(3$1 7>
=(=&& 3 1(&1@ mA @(3$1 7>
3 3(B@ 3 1(1 mA 3(388 7>
@ =(1B 3 =(1@ mA 1(00 7>
& (@B 3 1(&$& mA 1(&1 7>
= (@B 3 1($ mA 1(8B 7>
Source 1$(@B& 3
)o "eri*y ./0% nodes c% d% and h were used to generate ./0 e4uations 193(
@ 3
0 i i i + + =
112
= & 3
0 i i i + + =
12
= & @ 1
0 i i i i + + + =
132
)he measured current "alues were su#stituted into e4uations 193 to o#tain e4uations @9=(
00 ( 1 388 ( 3 3$1 ( @ 001 ( 0 0 + + = 1@2
8B0 ( 1 &1 ( 1 388 ( 3 00= ( 0 0 + + = 1&2
8B0 ( 1 &1 ( 1 00 ( 1 3$1 ( @ 00B ( 0 0 + + + = 1=2
)hese e4uations show that sum o* the currents at each node was a++ro5imately e4ual to
zero( )hus% ./0 was con*irmed #y the measurement ta7en *rom the e5+erimental resisti"e
circuit(
)o "eri*y .30% loo+s a9c9h979a% c9d9g9h9c% a9c9d9e9*9g9h979a% and c9d9e9*9g9h9c were used
to generate .30 e4uations B910(
3 1
0 v v v v
s
+ + + =
1B2
& 3 @
0 v v v + + =
182
= 3 1
0 v v v v v
s
+ + + + =
1$2
= 3 @
0 v v v + + =
1102
)he measured "oltages were su#stituted into e4uations B910 to o#tain e4uations 1191@(
@
1@0 ( = =&& ( = =8 ( = @B& ( 1$ 0& ( 0 0 + + + = 1112
@B ( B@ ( 3 1B ( = 0$ ( 0 0 + + = 112
@B ( B@ ( 3 =&& ( = =8 ( = @B& ( 1$ 03 ( 0 0 + + + + = 1132
@B ( B@ ( 3 1@0 ( = 0$ ( 0 0 + + = 11@2
)hese e4uations show that sum o* the "oltages around each loo+ was a++ro5imately
e4ual to zero( )hus% .30 was also con*irmed #y the measurements ta7en *rom the e5+erimental
resisti"e circuit(
)o "eri*y ,hm-s law current and resistance terms were su#stituted into the "oltage terms
in .30 loo+ e4uations a9#9c9h9C9a% c9d9g9h9c% and d9e9*9g9d% to create e4uations 1&91B(
@ 1 1
1@0 ( = &1@ ( 1 &0@ ( 1 @B& ( 1$ i i i + + = 11&2
& 3 @
&$& ( 1 100 ( 1 1B ( = 0 i i i + + =
11=2
= &
$ ( 1 &$& ( 1 0 i i + =
11B2
E4uations 1% % 1&% 1=% and 1B were +ut into matri5 *orm to sol"e *or the current "alues o*
each element as shown in e4uation 18(

=
=

88= ( 1
&& ( 1
00 ( 1
@1 ( 3
@1@ ( @
0
0
0
0
@B& ( 1$
1 1 0 1 0
0 0 1 1 1
$0 ( 1 &$& ( 1 0 0 0
0 &$& ( 1 1B ( = 100 ( 1 0
0 0 1@0 ( = 0 018 ( 3
=
&
@
3
1
1
i
i
i
i
i i
1182
)he solution o* e4uation 18 "eri*ies ohm-s law when the measured current "alues in ta#le
1 are com+ared to these calculated "alues(
Conclusion
)hrough this e5+eriment ,hm-s 0aw% .30 and ./0 were "eri*ied #y the measurements
ta7en *rom an e5+erimental resisti"e circuit( E4uations were created #y im+lementing .30 and
./0( )he measurements were su#stituted into the e4uations to show that they are nearly e4ual
to zero( ,hm-s law was su#stituted into three o* the .30 e4uations which were then +ut into
matri5 *orm along with two current e4uations( )he matri5 was sol"ed to *ind current "alues and
the com+arison o* the calculated and measure current *or each element "eri*ied ,hm-s 0aw(