Basel Baghal

Physics 327 Section 03

February 2, 2009

LAB 1: DC VOLTAGE DIVIDER

Introduction:
In DC circuits, we are usually concerned with resistors and voltage sources. Ohm's law
applies to electrical circuits; it states that the current through a conductor between two
points is directly proportional to the potential difference or voltage across the two points,
and inversely proportional to the resistance between them. V=IR
Where I is the current in amperes, V is the potential difference in volts, and R is a circuit
parameter called the resistance measured in ohms. Another important property of circuits
is illustrated through Kirchhoffs Laws. Kirchhoff's Current Law has to do with the
conservation of electric charge and implies that at any point in an electrical circuit that
does not represent a capacitor plate, the sum of currents flowing towards that point is
equal to the sum of currents flowing away from that point.
Similarly, Kirchhoff's Voltage Law tells us that the directed sum of the electrical potential
differences around any closed circuit must be zero.
In this lab we will be constructing a circuit and testing to see how these laws are obeyed.
R2
Specifically the derived voltage divider equation: V out Vin
R1 R2
The main objective of this lab is to learn about voltage dividers and practice using basic
electronic equipment.

Experimental Method:
This lab required the following apparatus and equipment. A power supply was necessary
to provide the source of the input voltage and a multimeter was required to measure both
the resistance of and the voltage drop across the resistors as well as the current in the
circuit. Both the power supply and multimeter required the necessary wires for assembly.
A prototyping circuit board along with wires was needed as the base to construct and run
our experimental circuits. To run the experiments we needed seven resistors of resistances
1 , 10 , 100 ,1 k, 10 k, 100 k, and 1 M. Lastly, a LED was necessary as a
non-ohmic device for the final part of the lab.
The lab consisted of two main parts. In Part A we constructed a circuit on the prototyping
board which consisted of two resistors, R1 and R2, in series powered by a 12 volt power
supply which was our constant input voltage, Vin. We measured the voltage drop, Vout,
across the second resistor R2 using the multimeter set to measure in volts. The setup is
illustrated in Diagram 1.1.

Diagram 1.1

Diag. 1.1: A standard voltage divider. This figure

illustrates the experimental setup of the first part
of the lab. The second resistor was swapped out
for each measurement.

We started by measuring each resistor with the multimeter, and comparing to the value shown by
the color code. We then first choose R1 to equal 100 k and R2 to equal 1 and measured Vin and
Vout. We repeated the measurements after each change of R2 to 10, 100 , 1 k, 10 k, 100
k, and 1 M, respectively. Next, maintaining Vin = 12 V, we reduced R1 to 100 , and repeated
the measurements for all of the values of R2 equal to and greater than 100 .
The final step to Part A was to calculate Vout rather than directly measure it. To do this we
connected a 10 k resistor, Rm, in parallel with R2 and measured the current through Rm using
the multimeter then calculate Vout. We made sure the ammeter was connected in series with the
circuit and that we did not exceed 30 mA for the input current to the multimeter. Finally we
repeated the measurement and calculation using Rm equal to 1 k. Diagram 1.2 shows how this
circuit was set up.
Diagram 1.2

Diag. 1.2: A voltage divider. This figure illustrates the experimental setup which allowed us to calculate the
voltage drop rather than measure it directly.

The second part of the lab, Part B

dealt with using an LED as a non-resistive device. Sometimes elements which have a
resistance that depends on the applied voltage; in other words, the current is not
proportional to the voltage. These are called non-ohmic devices.
We first constructed a voltage divider consisting of a resistor, R1 in series with an LED.
We started off by choosing R1 to equal 1 M, and then 100 k, 10 k, 1 k, and 100 ,
respectively, all the time making sure not to set up the LED without a resistor in series so
it wouldnt burn out. In this part we did change the power supply by apply a voltage, Vin
equal to 5 V rather than 12 V. For each value of R1, we measured the current through the
circuit, and the voltage across the two elements independently.

Results and Discussion:

In Part A of this lab we measured the input and output voltage as we changed the resistors
as described in the procedure. The following tables include the data collected from the
first main step of Part A. The theoretical voltages calculated using the voltage divider
formula are also included along with the quantities calculated for use in the plots. Table
1.1 displays the results of our measurements taken using R1 equal 100 k and Table 1.2
show the results obtained using R1 to equal 100 .
Table 1.1
R1 ()
R2 ()

Vin (V) Vout Calc (V)

Vout Meas (V) log(R2) ()
VoutM/R2 (A)
100000
1
12
1.200E-04
1.2E-04
0
1.2E-04
100000
10
12
1.200E-03
1.2E-03
1
1.2E-04
100000
100
12
1.199E-02
1.2E-02
2
1.2E-04
100000
1000
12
1.188E-01
1.2E-01
3
1.2E-04
100000
10000
12
1.091E+00
1.1E+00
4
1.1E-04
100000 100000
12
6.000E+00
6.0E+00
5
6.0E-05
100000 1000000
12
1.091E+01
1.08E+01
6
1.08E-05
Table 1.1: Data obtained when the first resistor was kept constant at 100 kiloohms. Note that the output
voltages calc or C are the theoretical ones calculated using the formula and the meas or M are those
obtained from the experiment.

VoutC/R2 (A)
1.200E-04
1.200E-04
1.199E-04
1.188E-04
1.091E-04
6.000E-05
1.091E-05

Table 1.2
R1 ()

R2 ()
Vin (V)
log(R2) ()
Vout Calc (V)
Vout Meas (V)
100
100
12
2
6
6
100
1000
12
3
10.90909091
11
100
10000
12
4
11.88118812
12
100
100000
12
5
11.98801199
12
100
1000000
12
6
11.99880012
12
Table 1.2: Data obtained when the first resistor was kept constant at 100 ohms. Note that the output
voltages calc are the theoretical ones calculated using the formula and the meas are those obtained
from the experiment.

As it is clearly evident by analysis of the voltage divider equation and supported by the
obtained data: as long as R2 is small compared to R1, the output voltage Vout varies almost
linearly with R2, whereas for R2 large compared to R1, the output voltage is about equal to
the input voltage Vin. This is easily verified mathematically and we have clearly verified
it experimentally as well. It can be easily seen in the following plots. Provided for each
plot is a smooth curve calculated from the voltage divider equation. For the first set of
measurements, we graphed Figure 1.1, Vout/ R2 vs. log(R2).

Figure 1.1

Fig. 1.1: This plot illustrates the data obtained when the first resistor was kept constant at 100 ohms. Note
that the measured and calculated (smooth curve) are so close that they may be hard to differentiate.

This function appears to be flat in the linear region, where R2 is small (less than 1000 ).
The graph shows us that the dependence is about linear for all values greater than 3 on
the x-axis which corresponds to R2 equal to 10 k, 100 k, and 1M. For the second set
of measurements, we graphed in Figure 1.2: Vout vs. log(R2).
Figure 1.2

Fig. 1.2: This plot illustrates the data obtained when the first resistor was kept constant at 100 ohms. Note
that the measured and calculated (smooth curve) are so close that they may be hard to differentiate.

We can see from the plot that for x-values above 4 the Vout levels off at 12 volts which
tells us that when R2 is greater than 10 k, Vout Vin.
The second step to Part A involved loading of a circuit which occurs when additional
circuitry is connected. To illustrate the concept of loading, we consider a voltage divider
with Vin = 12 V, and R1 = R2 = 1 k. We connected an additional resistor, Rm, in parallel
and measured the current running through it to calculate Vout. The current was measured

twice, once with Rm = 10 k and the next with Rm = 1 k. The results are summarized in
Table 1.3.
Table 1.3
R1 ()
R2 ()
Rm ()
Vin (V)
Current Rm (mA)
Vout Calc (V)
1000
1000
10000
12
0.55
1000
1000
1000
12
4.0
Table 1.3: Data obtained and calculated from the last step of Part A.

5.5
4

Since the voltage source does not produce an output voltage which is independent of the
load resistance (5.5 V is not equal to 4 V) , it demonstrates why a voltage divider is not a
very good voltage source.
In Part B of the lab we used an light-emitting diode (LED) in place of the first resistor.
We knew it was oriented correctly, since current flowed through the LED (it lit up) when
the voltage across it is more than about 1 V. Figure 1.3 shows the plot of voltage across
the diode vs. current through it.
Figure 1.3

Fig. 1.3: This plot illustrates the data obtained from part B of the lab on the voltage drop across the diode
as a function of the current running through the circuit.

Table 1.4 contains the data obtained and calculated from this experiment. The power
dissipated was calculated using Joules Law.

Table 1.4
R1 ()

Power R1

Volt. R1

Current I

Volt. LED

Power LED

(W)
(V)
(mA)
100
3.185E-02
1.93
16.5
1000
8.260E-03
2.95
2.8
10000
1.190E-03
3.5
0.34
100000 1.328E-04
3.69
0.036
1000000 1.512E-05
3.78
0.004
Table 1.4: Data obtained and calculated from Part B.

(V)
3.26
2.27
1.7
1.5
1.4

(W)
5.379E-02
6.356E-03
5.780E-04
5.400E-05
5.600E-06

For the first two values of R1 we see light emitting from the LED. At 100 it is its
brightest and at 1 k it dims; past 1 k (10 k, 100 k, 1 M) there is no light. The first
segment of the plot clearly demonstrates how the LED does not obey Ohms Law. Ohms
law tells us that voltage equals resistance multiplied by current. If resistance is kept
constant then voltage should be linearly proportional to current. This relationship is not
seen in the curve above.
Conclusions:
In conclusion the setting up and execution of this lab did indeed aid in learning about
voltage dividers and practicing using basic electronic equipment. It was a bit confusing at
first but once we got started we were quickly able to understand the basic principles of
the circuit. Sources of error in this lab came from deviations in actual resistance of
resistors as compared to the labeled resistance. It could also come from inaccuracies in
the increments and measurements of the multimeter. For the most part most of the
expected results were closely supported by the experimental results.