Qatar University

Core Curriculum Requirement

PHYS 194 / Experimental General Physics for Engineering II

Instructor: Mrs. Huda Al Yafei

Spring 2021 – L04

Lab Report # 1: Ohm’s Law

Submitted by: Yousef Abu Atieh 201707324

Date of experiment: 23/2/2021

Date of submission: 3/3/2021

 Table of Contents
1. Aim of the experiment: ......................................................................................................................... 3
2. Introduction: ......................................................................................................................................... 3
3. Equipment needed:............................................................................................................................... 3
4. Experimental procedure: ...................................................................................................................... 3
4.1. Part 1: measurement of R1 ........................................................................................................... 3
4.2. Part 2: measurement of R2. .......................................................................................................... 4
4.3. Part 3: measuring the total resistance when R1 and R2 are in series .......................................... 4
4.4. Part 4: measuring the total resistance when R1 and R2 are in parallel........................................ 4
5. Data Analysis: ........................................................................................................................................ 5
5.1. Resistor (R1 = 5.6 Ω):..................................................................................................................... 5
5.2. Series: ............................................................................................................................................ 6
6. Conclusion: ........................................................................................................................................ 8
1. Aim of the experiment:
The purpose of this experiment is to verify Ohm’s law and find the equivalent resistance of series
and parallel connections.

2. Introduction:
Ohm’s law, which is empiric, relates the electric potential drop across a conductor to the current
passing through:

𝑉 = 𝑅𝐼

Since in this experiment we will set a value for the potential and measure the produced current, we
re-write the previous relation as follow (so that is a function of the independent variable):

𝐼 = 𝑉/𝑅

This is, of course, a straight line equation with as slope.

3. Equipment needed:
Power supply, resistors, multimeters.

4. Experimental procedure:
4.1. Part 1: measurement of R1
1. Connect the circuit shown in figure 1 using one resistor (call it R1).

2. Set the power supply voltage to the values shown in the table given below and record the
corresponding currents. In all cases, you should not let the current exceed 2 Amps to protect
the resistors. Do not forget to record the errors on V and I specify the units.
4.2. Part 2: measurement of R2.
1. You could use the same previous procedure to measure the resistance and its error of the
second resistor. But instead of doing so, use the multimeter to measure the resistance of.
(No table is needed in this part).
2. Estimate ΔR2.

4.3. Part 3: measuring the total resistance when R1 and R2 are in series
1. Connect the two resistors in series as shown in figure 2.

2. Repeat steps 2 of part 1 for this new circuit and fill in a new table (you need 5 or 6
measurements). Remember that in all cases, to protect the resistors, you should not let the
current exceed 2 Amps.

4.4. Part 4: measuring the total resistance when R1 and R2 are in parallel
1. Connect the two resistors in parallel as shown in figure 3.

2. Repeat steps 2 of part 1 for this new circuit and fill in a new table (you need 5 or 6
measurements). Remember that in all cases, to protect the resistors, you should not let the
current exceed 2 Amps.
5. Data Analysis:
5.1. Resistor (R1 = 5.6 Ω):
Table 1: Experimental data for R1

Resistor: R1 = 5.6 Ω
V (Volts) Δ (V) Volts I (Amperes) Δ (I) Amperes
2 0.01 0.36 0.01
3 0.01 0.54 0.01
4 0.01 0.71 0.01
5 0.01 0.88 0.01
6 0.01 1.06 0.01
7 0.01 1.26 0.01

Graph1: I (A) vs V (V)

R1 = 5.6 Ω
1.4
y = 0.178x + 0.0007
1.2
R² = 0.9993
1

0.8
I (A)

0.6

0.4

0.2

0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
V (V)

Table 2: Slope and Intercept with their errors.

Slope Error of Slope Intercept Error of Intercept

0.178 0.002429972 0.000667 0.011695882

1 1
𝑅1 = = = 5.62 Ω
𝑠𝑙𝑜𝑝𝑒 0.178
𝐸𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑙𝑜𝑝𝑒 0.00243
Δ 𝑅1 = ( 𝑆𝑙𝑜𝑝𝑒 2
) = ( 0.1782 ) = 0.0767

From the results above, the data represents the linear model. Moreover, the value of R² is 0.9993
which is very close to 1.
 5.2. Series:
Table 3: Experimental data for series

Series: R1 = 5.6 Ω & R2 = 10 Ω

V (Volts) Δ (V) Volts I (Amperes) Δ (I) Amperes
2 0.01 0.12 0.01
3 0.01 0.18 0.01
4 0.01 0.24 0.01
5 0.01 0.31 0.01
6 0.01 0.37 0.01
7 0.01 0.43 0.01

Graph 2: I (A) vs V (V) (Series)

Series (R1 = 5.6 Ω & R2 = 10 Ω)

0.5
0.45
0.4 y = 0.0626x - 0.0066
R² = 0.9995
0.35
0.3
I (A)

0.25
0.2
0.15
0.1
0.05
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
V (V)

Table 4: Slope and Intercept with their errors.

Slope Error of Slope Intercept Error of Intercept

0.062571 0.000699854 -0.00657 0.003368522

1 1
𝑅𝑒𝑥𝑝 = = = 15.97 Ω
𝑠𝑙𝑜𝑝𝑒 0.0626
𝐸𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑙𝑜𝑝𝑒 0.000699
Δ 𝑅𝑒𝑥𝑝 = ( 𝑆𝑙𝑜𝑝𝑒 2
) = ( 0.06262 ) = 0.178 Ω

𝑅𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑜𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 = 𝑅1 + 𝑅2 = 5.6 + 10 = 15.6 Ω

Δ 𝑅𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑜𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 = 1.3 Ω
To compare the experimental and the theoretical results:

2
𝑅(𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑙) − 𝑅(𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑜𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙) 2
𝑋 =
∆𝑅(𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑙) 2 + ∆𝑅(𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑜𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙) 2

2
(15.97 − 15.6)2
𝑋 = = 0.0795
(0.178)2 + (1.3)2

Since the value of X2 is too small, this indicates that the measured value vs. theoretical value are
close to each other. However, there is always some sources of errors such as the reading of the
ammeter and some errors in conducting the experiment.

5.3. Parallel:
Table 5: Experimental data for parallel

Parallel: R1 = 5.6 Ω & R2 = 10 Ω

V (Volts) Δ (V) Volts I (Amperes) Δ (I) Amperes
2 0.01 0.55 0.01
3 0.01 0.83 0.01
4 0.01 1.11 0.01
5 0.01 1.38 0.01
6 0.01 1.66 0.01
7 0.01 1.95 0.01

Graph 3: I (A) vs V (V) (Parallel)

Parallel (R1 = 5.6 Ω & R2 = 10 Ω)

2.5

2 y = 0.2789x - 0.0082
R² = 0.9999

1.5
I (A)

0.5

0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
V (V)
Table 6: Slope and Intercept with their errors.

Error of Error of
Slope Intercept
Slope Intercept
0.278857 0.001256277 -0.00819 0.006046682

1 1
𝑅𝑒𝑥𝑝 = = = 3.597 Ω
𝑆𝑙𝑜𝑝𝑒 0.2789
𝐸𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑙𝑜𝑝𝑒 0.001256
Δ 𝑅𝑒𝑥𝑝 = ( ) =( ) = 0.016 Ω
𝑆𝑙𝑜𝑝𝑒 2 0.27892

𝑅1 ∗ 𝑅2 5.6 ∗ 10
𝑅𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑜𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 = = = 3.589 Ω
𝑅1 + 𝑅2 5.6 + 10

Δ 𝑅𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑜𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 = 0.15Ω

To compare the experimental and the theoretical results:

2
𝑅(𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑙) − 𝑅(𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑜𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙) 2
𝑋 =
∆𝑅(𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑙) 2 + ∆𝑅(𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑜𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙) 2

2
(3.597 − 3.589)2
𝑋 = = 0.0028
(0.016)2 + (0.15)2

Since the value of X2 is too small, this indicates that the measured value vs. theoretical value are
close to each other. This means that the values of the experimental agree with the theoretical
values. However, there is always some sources of errors such as the reading of the ammeter and
some errors in conducting the experiment.

6. Conclusion:
For this experiment, the main objective is to verify Ohm’s law and find the equivalent resistance
of series and parallel connections. Furthermore, to compare the equivalent resistor and with the
resistors individually for both series and parallel connections.
Table 7: Comparison between equivalent and individual for both series and parallel.

From this table, it is obvious that the equivalent resistor in

series is higher than the individual resistor. On the other hand,
the equivalent resistor in parallel is lower than the individual
resistor.
7. References:

Physics II Lab Manual