GENERAL SCIENCE LABORATORY 1110L Lab

Experiment 6: Ohm’s Law

OBJECTIVES: To verify Ohm’s law, the mathematical relationship among current,
voltage or potential difference, and resistance, in a simple circuit.

APPARATUS: Windows 7 PC, Vernier LabPro Interface, Vernier Current & Voltage
Probes, Vernier Logger Pro Software 3.8.*, two resistors (about 36 and 100 Ω), Banana
Plug Wires, alligator clips to connect resistors to banana plug wires, Variable DC Power
Supply.

THEORY

The electrical quantities can be difficult to understand because they cannot be observed
directly. To clarify these terms, some people make the comparison between electrical
circuits and water flowing in pipes. Here is a chart of the three electrical units we will study
in this experiment.

Electrical Description Units Water Analogy

Quantity
Voltage or A measure of Volts (V) Water Pressure
Potential the Energy
Difference difference per
unit charge
between two
points in a
circuit.
Current A measure of Amperes (A) Amount of
the flow of water flowing
charge in a
circuit.
Resistance A measure of Ohms (Ω ) A measure of
how difficult it how difficult it
is for current to is for water to
flow in a circuit. flow in a pipe.

The fundamental relationship among voltage, current, and resistance was discovered by
Georg Simon Ohm.

Georg Simon Ohm (16 March 1789 – 6 July 1854) was a Bavarian (German) physicist and mathematician.
As a high school teacher, Ohm began his research with the new electrochemical cell, (Is a device used
for generating an electromotive force (voltage) and current from chemical reactions (A Battery),
invented by Italian scientist Alessandro Volta.

Using equipment of his own creation, Ohm found that there is a direct proportionality between the
potential differences (voltage) applied across a conductor and the resultant electric current. This
relationship is known as Ohm's law.

The relationship and the unit of electrical resistance were both named for him to
commemorate this contribution to physics. One statement of Ohm’s law is that the current
through a resistor is directly proportional to the voltage across the resistor

V/I = R (1)
V is the voltage in volts, I is the current in amperes, and R is the resistance in ohms. A
graph of V vs. I should yield a straight line with the slope of the line being the resistance.

PROCEDURE
1. Turn on the Computer.

2. Make sure the computer has booted up completely.

3. Double click on Logger Pro (3.8.*).

4. Choose Open from the File menu.

5. Double click on Physics with Vernier.

6. Select and click open “Exp 22 Ohm’s Law”. A graph of potential vs. current will be
displayed. The vertical axis is scaled from 0 to 6 V. The horizontal axis is scaled from 0.0 to
0.6 Amperes.

7. Make sure the LabPro Interface is plugged into the USB port of the computer, its power
supply is plugged in, and the interface is turned on.

8. Plug the Current probe into Channel 1 and the voltage probe is plugged into Channel 2.

9. Plug in the DC power supply. Make sure the power supply is turned off.
Figuure 1: Circuit Setup

10. Connect the power supply, 100-Ω resistor, wires, and clips as shown in Figure 1 above.
The positive lead from the power supply and the red terminal from the Current & Voltage
Probe are connected as shown. Note: Attach the red connectors to the positive side of the
power supply.

11. Make sure the power supply is turned off. Click on “zero” Θ button on the toolbar
above the graph. A dialog box will appear. Click “zero all sensors”. This sets the zero for
both probes with no current flowing and with no voltage applied.

12. Record the resistance (labeled on the resistor) in data table #1.

13. Have your instructor check the connected circuit before proceeding.

14. Click on the Green “collect” button on the toolbar to begin data collection. Turn on the
power supply. Turn the control knob on the power supply counterclockwise all the way
down to 0 V if it’s not done so already. Gradually increase the power supply to
approximately 0.5 volt. Use the indicator for POTENTIAL displayed on the bottom left of
the computer screen to set the voltage. Monitor the voltage and current. Click on “keep”
button when the readings are as stable as they can be. Both voltage and current readings
will display in the data table on the screen.

15. Slowly increase the voltage to about 1.0 V. Click on “keep” when the readings are
as stable as they can be again. Repeat this process with an increment of 0.5 V until
you reach a voltage of 5.0 V. You should have 10 data points.
16. Click on “stop” button and set the power supply back to 0 V.

17. Click on “Analyze” on the menu bar, and then select “Curve Fit”. Choose a Linear fit
{ y= mI + b}for your data. Click on the button “Try Fit”. Click on the OK Button and a
window will pop up over the Voltage vs. Current graph giving the parameters for the best
fit equation to your data. The best fitted straight line graph from the collected data will
display on the screen.

18. Record the slope (The Resistance) and y-intercept (Vo) of the line in data table #1, along
with their units.

19. NOTE: You will be required to hand plot one graph on 10mm to 1 cm graph paper of
V vs. I. Record this set of data in data table #2 now if you want to plot this graph.
Otherwise, wait for next set of data with a different resistor.

20. For safety reasons, please turn off the power supply first before you replace the resistor
with a different one.

21. Remove the 100 Ohm resistor from the circuit and replace it with the 36 Ohm resistor.

22. Repeat Steps 14 – 18 using the 36 Ohm resistor.

DATA TABLE 1

Slope of straight line from Y intercept of the straight line

computer (V/A or Ω) from computer (V)

Resistor #1 100Ω (check value

marked on the resistor)

Resistor #2 36Ω (check value

marked on the resistor)

Resistance = ______Ω from your

hand plotted data on the 10 mm
to 1 cm graph paper

% difference = _______
DATA TABLE 2 RESISTOR______________Ω

Potential (V) Current (A)

DATA ANALYSIS

1. Plot V vs. I graph on the 10 mm to 1 cm graph paper for one of the

resistors using the recorded data in table #2. Determine the resistance
which is the slope of the straight line. Record this value in data table #1.
2. Compare the resistance given by the computer to the value obtained
by your graph and calculate the % difference. Enter this value in data
table #1.
3. Resistors are manufactured such that their actual values are within
certain tolerances. For most resistors used in this lab, the tolerance is 5%
or 10%. Check with your instructor to determine the tolerance of the
resistors you are using. Calculate the range of values for each resistor.
For example: If the tolerance is 10 % for the 100 Ω resistor, then the
range of values is 90 Ω - 110 Ω.

QUESTIIONS
1. Does the resistance from the computer fit within the appropriate
range of values for each resistor? Does the resistance from the hand
plotted graph also fit within the appropriate range of value for the
resistor?
2. From your data table, examine what happened to the current when
the voltage was doubled, quadrupled, etc. What type of relationship do
you believe exists between voltage and current? Is ohm’s law proven to
be correct?

Figure 2: PASCO POWER SUPPLY. NOTE RED + and Black - connectors.

Figure 3: BANANA PLUG WIRES

Figure 4: Alligator Clip

Figure 5: RESISTORS
Figure 6: Vernier Current Probe. Note Positive (RED) and Negative (BLACK) ends of the probe.

See Figure 1

Figure 7: Vernier Voltage Probe. Note Red and Black connectors, See Figure 1
Figure 8: Example Data from Ohms Law.
Lab Report Format:

Your lab report for this experiment should contain the following sections:

1. Title of experiment in center of the first page. Date to the left of the title. Experimenters name with
partners name(s) under experimenters name to the right of the title.

2. Objective

3. Apparatus

4. Original Data: Neatly filled out data page.

5. Sample calculations and graph: For this lab an example (ONE) needs to be shown for each of the
following calculations: Slope hand plotted data, % difference between value of the resistance of
the unknown resistor found using the graph paper and the resistance determined by the computer
for the same resistor. Show the tolerance calculations for your two resistors to determine the
range of possible values for each. Graph for Voltage vs. Current for one of your resistors.

6. Results: State your results (in the form of a very short sentence). Make sure the numerical results
are properly rounded and have the correct number of significant digits. Report the experimental
resistance for both resistors using the computer. Report the resistance from the hand plotted data.
What is the per cent difference between the resistance from the hand plotted data and that obtained
by the computer. Range of possible values of your resistors given their tolerances.

7. Conclusions: Address the answers to the three discussion questions on page 6 of the handout..

PROPER MATERIALS, ETC. FOR YOUR REPORTS

1. ALL DATA IS TO BE RECORDED DIRECTLY IN YOUR LAB NOTEBOOK. NO SCRATCH PAPER IS TO BE

USED.

2. YOU ARE TO USE BLUE OR BLACK INK ONLY FOR RECORDING DATA AND
DOING YOUR REPORTS IN YOUR NOTEBOOK.

3. REMEBER, ONLY THE FRONT OF THE PAGES IN YOUR LAB NOTEBOOK ARE
TO BE USED FOR DOING YOUR LAB REPORT. I WILL NOT LOOK AT ANY
INFORMATIION ON THE BACKSIDE OF THE NOTEBOOK PAGES.

4. DO NOT TEAR OUT ANY PAGES FROM YOUR NOTBOOK.

5. DO NOT ERASE OR USE WHITEOUT FOR MISTAKES!!!!
All observations taken under the same experimental condition are equally
valid and should be retained for analysis. Do not erase readings. If you must
change a reading, draw a single line through it and then record the new
measurement next to the old one.