DC Measurements- Lab Report

07th August 2019

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 Table of Content

Declaration of Originality....................................................... ….3

1) Introduction and Background................................................ 4

1.1) Objective.....................................................................4
1.2) Theory.........................................................................4-5
1.3) List of Components and Equipment used....................6
2) Schematic Diagrams................................................................7
3) Procedure................................................................................9
4) Calculations......................................................................... 11-14
5) Results..................................................................................15-16
6) Analysis and Discussions....................................................... 17
7) Answers to the questions..................................................... 19
8) References............................................................................ 20
9) Appendix……………………………………………………………………………21

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Faculty of Science and Engineering

Declaration of Originality

“This work or any part thereof has not previously been presented in
any form to the University, or to any other institutional body
whether for assessment or other purposes. Save for any express
acknowledgements, references and / or bibliographies cited in the
work, I confirm that the intellectual content of the work is a result
of my own efforts and no other person”.

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 1). Introduction and Background

1.1) Objective

The main objective of Electronics Lab is to provide the students an

environment where they perform experiments of Electronics and
learn the use of different electronic test equipment’s like
oscilloscope, , and multi-meter.
The main objectives of the lab session were to measure DC voltage
and current in electrical circuits, verify Ohm’s law and Kirchhoff’s
voltage and current laws and to study voltage-divider and current
divider circuits.

1.2) Theory

There were 3 main theories used in this lab practical. They were;
• Ohm’s law
• Kirchhoff’s current law (KCL)
• Kirchhoff’s voltage law (KVL)

Ohm’s Law:
It states that, the voltage across a conductor is directly proportional
to the current passing through it, where the constant proportionality
is called the Resistance (R).

This can be defined by the equation:

V= I R

Here, V=voltage in volts (V)

I=current in amperes (A) R=resistance in ohms (Ω)

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Kirchhoff’s current law (KCL):
This states that, the algebraic sum of current entering a node is zero.
i.e.,
I3
I1
I4

I2

When applying KCL to the above diagram;

I1+I2-I3-I4=0
Therefore, I1+I2 = I3+I4
• The total current entering the node equals the total current
leaving the node.

Kirchhoff’s voltage law (KVL):

It states that, the algebraic sum of voltage across a closed path is
zero.
i.e. V3
V2
I

V1

V4

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When applying KVL to the above diagram;
-V1+V2-V3+V4=0
Therefore, V2+V4 = V1+V3

1.3) List of components and equipment used

• DC power supply
• Digital Multi-meter (DMM)
• Resistors (1/2-W):
I. 330-Ω
II. 470-Ω
III. 680-Ω (instead of 820-Ω)
IV. 1-kΩ
V. 1-kΩ (instead of 1.2-kΩ)
VI. 2.2-kΩ (instead of 2.0-kΩ)
VII. 2.2-kΩ
VIII. 3.3-kΩ
IX. 4.7-kΩ
X. 10-kΩ
• Breadboard
• Jumper wires

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 2.0) Schematic Diagrams

Figure 1.0 Figure 1.1

Digital Multi-meter (DMM) DC Power supply

Figure 1.3

Resistors
Figure 1.2
Breadboard

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 Figure 1.4
Jumper wires

Figure 1.5
Resistors with resistance measured

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 3.0) Procedure

In this section it is mainly discussed on how the lab was conducted.

Before the lab was conducted the students were divided into groups
of five members. The instructions were given by the lecturer on how
the lab is conducted and the assessment was distributed. This
assessment includes the formal lab report format and the experiments
which were to be done.
Before the experiments were started one of the group members had
to fill the form and request the necessary equipment’s which were
needed to the practical form the TA. As there were four practicals
different groups started doing different practicals as per instructed by
the lecturer.
Firstly, the practical was started with Part D: Verification of
Kirchhoff’s laws. All the resistors were measured initially to find the
actual resistance as shown in Figure 1.5. According to the procedure
given in Part D the circuit was set up in the breadboard (Figure 1.2).
The output voltage “Vps” was set up to 15V using the DC Power supply
(Figure 1.1) with the aid of the Digital multi-meter (Figure 1.0). Hence
the voltage and current were measured in each resistor by supplying
the power to the circuit and the measured values were noted in the
table provided.
Next practical was Part A: Verification of Ohm’s law. Again, the
practical was carried out according to the procedure given. Here the
initial output voltage was 10V and the resistance was 2kΩ. The task
was to measure the current across the resistor by changing the voltage
to 15kΩ, 20kΩ, 25kΩ. The current was measured by changing the
output voltage and the values were noted in the table.

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The next practical was Part B: Voltage-divider circuit. In the procedure
two resistors were used 10kΩ and 2kΩ (2.2kΩ was used instead) and
their resistance were measured and noted in the table. The output
voltage used was 12V measured from the DC power supply. The
voltage across the two resistors were to be measure in the practical
and the values were noted. By using the measured values of the
resistors and Vps the voltages V1 and V2 were calculated by voltage-
divider rules.
The last practical was Part C: Current-divider circuit where, three
resistors 2.2kΩ, 3.3kΩ, 4.7kΩ were used and their resistance was
measured and recorded in the table. The output voltage used was
15V. The circuit was set up on the breadboard as shown in the diagram
given. The voltmeter was connected in parallel and the ammeter in
series in the circuit. The total current and the current across the three
resistors are measured and noted in the table. Using the current-
divider rules I1, I2&I3 are calculated finally.
After measuring the values and noting them in the table, the signature
of the TA was taken for each experiment by every student in order to
prove that the practical was done.

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 4.0) Calculations

Part A: verification of Ohm’s law:

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Part B: Voltage-Divider circuit:

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Part C: Current-Divider Circuit:

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Part D: Verification of Kirchhoff’s laws:

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 5.0) Results

TABLE 1: Verification of Ohm's law

Measured I (amps) Calculated I (amps)

11.364
11.45
9.091
9.13
CURRENT I (MA)

6.818
6.73
4.545
4.57

10 V 15 V 20 V 25 V
VOLTAGE V

Figure 2.0

TABLE 2: Voltage-Divider circuit

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9.81 9.836
10

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Voltage V

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2.4 2.164
2

0
V1 V2
Vps 12v

Measured value Calculated value

Figure 2.1

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 TABLE 3: CURRENT-DIVIDER CIRCUIT
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6.65 6.82
7

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Current I (mA)

4.47 4.54

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3.17 3.19
3

0
I1 I2 I3

Measured value Calculated value

Figure 2.2

TABLE 4: Verification of Kirchhoff's laws

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10.21 10.16
10

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Voltage

2.138 2.162
2 1.257 1.359
0.698 0.714 0.594 0.601

0
V1 V2 V3 V4 V5

Measured value Calculated value

Figure 2.3

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 7.0) Analysis and Discussion

When considering the first practical, Part A: Verification of Ohm’s Laws

the measured values with calculated values, the values obtained by both
methods were same refer (Figure 2.0). In the 15V graph the measured
readings were slightly changed with the calculated readings due to the
automatic adjustment of power supply, as the voltage was changed into
four different variables so the current flow could change. Hence it was
concluded that according to the given experiment the verification of
ohm’s law was proved.
When analyzing the values from the second practical which was Part B:
Voltage-Divider circuit. A Vps (voltage power supply) of 12v was used and
when comparing the data, calculated value of V1 is same as the measured
value, but there has been a practical error in measuring V2 as the
calculated value is less than the measured value, refer Figure 2.1. It was
concluded that there was a change of resistors, instead of 2kΩ resistor
2.2 kΩ resistor was used therefore this might have cause an error when
doing calculations. So, to overcome this error a 2kΩ resistor should be
used and repeat the practical.
In the third practical, Part C: Current-Divider circuit there were three
resistors used which were in parallel and a Vps of 15V was supplied and
the currents flowing through the resistors were measured. According to
Figure 2.2 shown the measured and calculated values were obtained. The
currents measured and calculated of I1 & I2 are almost the same. But
there’s a small difference in values of I1 as the calculated value is greater
than the measured value. Hence to avoid this practical error, a set of
values should be measured for I1 and the mean value must be taken.

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When reviewing the fourth practical Part D: Verification of Kirchhoff’s
Laws there were 8 resistors used and used a Vps of 15V. The voltage and
current in each resistor were measured. The calculated voltage from V1-
V4 is greater than the measured voltage but in V5 measured voltage is
greater than the calculated value, refer Figure 2.3. As the values
measured and calculated were similar it was concluded that the
Kirchhoff’s laws were verified and there are errors in the practical done.
Finally, it is concluded that the theories were verified by doing the
practical and calculations as the values obtained were almost similar in
common when analyzing the results. And to obtain a most precise
measurement it is better to repeat the experiment and get a set of values
and taking the range of those values in order to reduce the errors
occurring.

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7.0) Answers to Questions

• Refer the Appendix attached.

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 8.0) References

http://www.nust.edu.pk/INSTITUTIONS/Schools/SEECS/Departments/EE/Abou
t%20Department/Lab%20Facilities/Pages/Electronics-Lab.aspx

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohm's_law

https://www.electronics-tutorials.ws/dccircuits/kirchhoffs-voltage-law.html

https://www.electronics-tutorials.ws/dccircuits/kirchhoffs-current-law.html

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Appendix

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