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Lab 2 Ohm's Law - lab report

Physics II (College of Staten Island CUNY)

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Ohm’s Law AND resistance

Course: PHY156

Section: 12919

Student Name: Gamoi Paisley

Lab Partner: Sarahi Marquez

Date: 09/12/2017

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Objective:

To verify Ohm’s law using the voltmeter-ammeter method of measuring electrical resistance to
determine the current and voltage characteristics of conductors and calculating their resistance.

Physical Principle:

Conductors are materials which contain mobile electric charges while insulators are materials in which
have fixed charges that cannot move freely. When an electric field is applied to a conductor, mobile
charges will begin to move in a specific direction. This directional flow of charges is known as an electric
current(I), which, can be defined as the amount of charge transferred through a conductor in one
second. The applied electrical field can be characterized by the difference of electrical potential along
the conductor. This difference in potential is called voltage(V) and is measured in volts. The electric
current (I) of most conductors, which is measured in amperes (A), is proportional to the applied voltage.
This linear relationship is known as Ohm’s Law, where:

I=SV
Conductance (S) is the ability of the conductor to conduct the current, this is more commonly described
in practice as the as the resistance (R) of the conductor whose units is ohms (Ω).

1 S=R
∴V =RI
Conductors whose resistance is independent of V and I, such as most metals, are called ohmic
conductors, while those which are dependent, such as semiconductors and conductive ceramics are
called non-ohmic conductors. The resistance of a conductor can be influenced by the type of material,
its size, shape, direction of current flow and temperature. When comparing ohmic and non-ohmic
conductors by plotting a graph of V vs I, ohmic conductors will produce a straight line whose slope will be
equal to the resistance, while, non-ohmic conductors will produce a very complex line as its resistance
fluctuates.

Equipment:

 Variable DC power Supply (Battery)

 Ammeter (digital multimeter set to “mA” DC)
 Voltmeter (digital multimeter set to “V” DC)
 Tubular power rated resistor (101.4 Ω)
 Tungsten filament lamp (18.4 Ω)
 Carbon filament lamp (259.6 Ω)
 Connecting wires
 Knife switch with spades

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Diagram of Apparatus

Procedure:

The apparatus was set up as shown in the diagram above with a 18.4 Ω tungsten filament lamp. The
ammeter was then set to milliamperes (mA) and DC, while the voltmeter was set to voltage (V) and DC.
The circuit was then closed and the power supply (V 0) set to 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 10, 14, 18, 22, 26 and 30V while
the voltage and current were recorded for each step. The resistance at each step was then calculated
and recorded. The circuit was then opened and the tungsten filament lamp was then replaced with a
259.6 Ω carbon filament lamp and the procedure repeated. This process was again repeated using a
101.4 Ω tubular resistor.

The tabulated data was then used to prepare a graph of V vs I. A second graph was then prepared of R
vs I.

Lab Data:

Please see the attached data sheet.

Calculations:

V
V =IR ∴ R=
I

V 13.700
¿ tubular resistor at 14 V : R= = =101.5 Ω
I 0.135

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Average calculated resistance of tubular resistor=

∑ of Resistance
Number of Experimental Values

∑ Resistance=100+100+100+102+102+101+101+101+102+101=1010 Ω
1010 Ω
Average calculated resistance of tubular resistor= =101.0 Ω
10

Experimental Value(Slope)−Theoretical Value

Percentage Error= ×100
Theoretical Value
101.4−101.4
Percentage Error= ×100=0 %
101.4

Discussion:

From the graph of V vs. I, only the tubular resistor produced a straight-line graph. This was expected
since the tubular resistor is an ohmic conductor, while the tungsten and carbon lamps are non-ohmic
conductors. The dependence of the resistance these non-ohmic conductors on voltage and current were
possibly caused by the increasing temperature of the filaments. This was expected because heating
resulted in thermal agitation of the atoms in the filaments which then retards the directional motion of
their electrons, increasing their resistance. This led to fluctuations in their resistance which resulted in
curved lines being produced on the graph. However, the ohmic tubular resistor was observed to have no
significant deviations in its resistance as the voltage and current changed. The slope of the graph for the
tubular resistor was found to be 101.4 Ω, which is consistent with the theoretical value of resistance for
the tubular resistor.
The plot of resistance against current indicated that the resistance in the carbon filament lamp
decreased as the current increase, while the tungsten filament lamp had an increase in resistance as the
current increased. However, the tubular resistor showed no significant change in resistance as the
current was increased. This simply confirmed the expected results that the tubular resistor was an
ohmic resistor while the tungsten filament lamp and the carbon filament lamp were non-ohmic resistors.
Although the percentage error for the tubular resistor was 0% errors may have occurred throughout the
experiment that influenced the overall results. Such errors may include systematic errors associated
with the instruments used or gross errors such as the misreading or rounding of numbers.

Conclusion:

The voltmeter-ammeter method was successfully used to verify Ohm’s Law for the ohmic tubular resistor
due to its independence from changing current and voltage. This method also confirmed the non-ohmic
nature of the tungsten and carbon filament lamps

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Answers to Questions:

1. Of the three objects measured in this experiment (tubular resistor and two lamps), which are
ohmic resistors and which are not? Explain.

The tubular resistor is an ohmic resistor and the two lamps are non-ohmic. Plotting V vs I
revealed that resistance of the tubular resistor did not significantly change with an increase in
voltage and electric current. The two lamps however had significant changes in resistance,
proving that their resistance was dependent on both voltage and electric current

2. What is your explanation for the fact that the current induced in the lamp does not follow Ohm’s
law?

Since the lamp is non-ohmic, its resistance is dependent on the voltage and current applied to it,
increasing the voltage resulted in increased agitation of electrons which resulted in an increase
in the temperature of the lamp which contributes to its resistance.

3. What does the plot tell you about the temperature coefficient of resistivity of each object used?
The plot of R vs I indicates that there is no coefficient of resistivity for the tubular resistor, the
carbon lamp has a negative coefficient of resistivity and the tungsten lamp has a positive
coefficient of resistivity.

4. Using formula (4) estimate the maximum temperature the filaments in the lamps reach during
the measurements.
Tungsten Lamp α = +4.5×10-3 °C-1
Carbon (graphite) α = -5×10-4 °C-1

Carbon Lamp :R T =R RT [1+α (T −T RT )]

150 Ω=259.6 Ω [ 1+−5 ×10−4 ℃−1 ( T −20℃ ) ]
150 Ω=259.6 Ω [ 1−5 ×10−4 ℃−1 T +100 × 10−4 ]
−1
150 Ω=259.6 Ω−0.13 Ω℃ T +2.596 Ω
−1
150 Ω=262.2 Ω−0.13 Ω℃ T
−1
150 Ω−262 .2 Ω=−0.13 Ω ℃ T
−1
−112.2Ω=−0.13 Ω℃ T
−112. 2 Ω
T= −1
=863.1℃
−0.13 Ω℃

Tungsten Lamp : R T =R RT [1+α (T −T RT )]

123 Ω=18.4 Ω [ 1+4.5 ×10−3 ℃−1 ( T −20 ℃ ) ]
123 Ω=18.4 Ω [ 1+4. 5 ×10−3 ℃−1 T +0.09 ]

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−1
123 Ω=18.4 Ω+0.0828 Ω℃ T +1.6 6 Ω
123 Ω=20 . 06 Ω+0. 0828 Ω ℃−1 T
−1
123 Ω−2 0 . 06 Ω=0. 0828 Ω ℃ T
102.94 Ω=0.0828 Ω℃−1 T
102.94 Ω
T= −1
=1,243 . 2℃
0.0828 Ω℃

5. Predict the current, which would be induced in the resistors you measured if a voltage of 40V
could be applied.

V
V =RI ∴ I =
R
V 40
Tungsten Lamp , assuming R=18.4 Ω: I = = =2.17 A
R 18.4
V 40
Carbon Lamp , assuming R=259.6 Ω: I = = =0.15 A
R 259.6
V 40
Tubular Resistor , assuming R=101.4 Ω: I = = =0.39 A
R 101.4

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