Faculty of Engineering

Electrical Engineering Department

Electrical Circuits Lab

EXPERIMENT 1
MEASUREMENT DEVICES

(Sheet & Report)

Group #

Student Name………………….. ID

1…………………………………..
2…………………………………..

Lab Supervisor: ……………………………….

 EXPERIMENT 1
MEASUREMENT DEVICES
OBJECTIVE

When you have completed this exercise, you will be familiar with the main devices and equipment you
will use in this Lab, including: multimeters, oscilloscopes, power supplies, function generators and
breadboards. You will also have connected a simple circuit, and made basic measurements.

DISCUSSION

Breadboard
A breadboard (shown below) is usually used to build a prototype of an electrical circuit, without the
need for soldering, usually for quick temporary testing.

A breadboard consists of a perforated block of plastic with numerous metal spring clips under the
perforations. Such metal clips are laid out in groups of fives as shown below. Discrete electrical
components (such as capacitors, resistors, inductors, etc) can be inserted into the free holes to complete
the circuit topology. The holes are made so that they will hold the component in place. A typical
breadboard will also have metallic strips, known as bus strips, down both sides to carry the power rails.

However, due to large stray capacitance between contact points, breadboards are usually limited to
relatively low frequencies, usually less than 10 MHz, depending on the nature of the circuit.
Some examples of circuits built by placing components and connecting them on breadboards are shown
below.

DC Power Supply

A DC power supply is used to generate a constant DC voltage (just like a battery). Recall that DC is
short for direct current. In the Lab, the voltage produced by the DC power supply is controlled by the
knobs labeled “Voltage” as shown below. The current can be limited by adjusting the knobs labeled
“Current” to prevent the power supply from generating more current than it is safe to avoid damaging
the electrical components in your circuit. As long as the circuit does not attempt to draw more current
than the value set by the “Current” knobs, the voltage will remain constant.
Both voltage and current settings can be adjusted by two adjacent knobs: “Coarse” and “Fine”. The
“Coarse” knob is used for quick changes in values (i.e., high number of steps), while the “Fine” knob is
used for more accurate values with smaller steps.

Screen

Current knobs Voltage knobs

+ terminal

ON
 terminal GND

When connecting the DC power supply to the breadboard use suitable wires to connect both the "+
terminal" (high voltage terminal) and the " terminal" (low voltage terminal) to your circuit. "Real
GND" is for earth grounding and it is connected to the device chassis. In this Lab we will not use this
terminal.
Multimeter

A multimeter is a measuring device that can perform multiple functions. For example, it can act as a
Voltmeter, Ammeter, Ohmmeter, etc. The following is a description of some of these functions:

Ammeter: measures DC or AC current (in units of µA, mA and A). You must connect the Ammeter in
series with the element in the circuit through which you want to measure the current. The ammeter has a
very small internal resistance so it does not disturb the current it is trying to measure. Due to this fact,
however, if it is connected by accident in parallel with the circuit element, a large amount of current will
flow through it, thus damaging it. That is why ammeters are usually protected by a current limiting fuse.

Voltmeter: measures DC or AC voltage (in units of mV and V). You must connect the Voltmeter in
parallel with the element in the circuit across which you want to measure the voltage. To avoid drawing
extra current, thus disturbing the voltage it is trying to measure, the internal impedance of the voltmeter
is very large.

Ohmmeter: measures resistance (in units of Ω and KΩ). You must connect the Ohmmeter in parallel
with the element in the circuit for which you want to measure the resistance. An Ohmmeter usually
employs an internal battery (voltage source) across the resistance you are trying to measure. The battery
drives a current into the resistor, which is measured by a current sensor. The value of the resistance is the
calculated from Ohm's law by dividing the battery voltage by the current. Hence, be careful not to
connect any external power supply to the resistor you are trying to measure because an extra current can
damage the ohmmeter and can also affect the overall Thevenin resistance the ohmmeter measures.

Continuity test: you can test the existence of a short circuit between two nodes in your circuit using the
continuity test function in the multimeter. This is helpful in discovering faulty cables.

The Figure below shows a portable multimeter (DMM) available the Lab. A brief description of
the main buttons is also provided:
 DC: Choose to perform DC (average) value measurements.
 AC: Choose to perform AC (rms) value measurements.
 V: Set to Voltmeter (in Volts if the range button did not indicate another unit).
 mA: Set to Ammeter (in milli amperes if range button did not indicate another unit).
 V/Ω: Positive terminal for voltage or resistance measurements.

 COM: Negative terminal that is common for all types of measurements.
Function Generator

A function generator is a device that can produce various patterns of voltage at a variety of frequencies
and amplitudes, such as sinusoidal signals, square waves, etc. It is connected to the circuit similar to how
you connect any voltage source. The function generator in the Lab has four major control blocks:

Oscilloscope

An oscilloscope is a measurement device designed to measure and display voltages. Unlike a

voltmeter, however, an oscilloscope does not display a single number. Instead, it displays
signals (waveforms) that are functions of time. Such a signal shape allows you to measure
certain signal parameters, such as its frequency, period, peak-to-peak voltage, DC offset value,
phase shift, pulse width, rise time, delay time, etc. Notice that the oscilloscope is suitable for
displaying signals that are periodic (i.e., repeat themselves in time), such as sinusoidal,
triangular and square wave signals, but unfortunately it cannot display aperiodic signals.
PROCEDURE A – CONNECTING YOUR CIRCUIT

1. List the name of each device currently on your bench and count the number of such devices.
For example, 1 oscilloscope, 4 multimeters, etc.

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2. You will be provided with a resistor R and an LED (light-emitting diode). Use the provided
breadboard to connect these two elements in series, and then connect the DC power supply
across them as in the schematic below. Set the power supply to 5V DC.

3. Remember that the breadboard pins are connected internally as shown below.
4. The LED is just like a small light bulb, but it has to be connected with the right polarity
(anode to the positive side and cathode to the negative side) for it to light up.

5. Write one paragraph explaining the function of a breadboard.

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6. Write one paragraph explaining the function of a DC power supply.

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7. Use a Voltmeter to measure the voltage across R, and record it below. Remember to select
the V button with a suitable range (depending on the screen reading), and to connect the
voltmeter to the resistor using two suitable leads, the positive lead should be inserted on the
V/Ω terminal and the negative lead should be connected to the COM terminal. In DC
measurements select the DC option, and pay attention to the polarity when connecting your
voltmeter.

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8. Did you connect the Voltmeter in series or parallel with the resistor R?

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9. Calculate the expected current in the resistor R and the LED using Ohm’s law? Show your
equations.

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10. Now use an Ammeter to measure the current in the LED, and record it below. Remember
to select the mA button with a suitable range (depending on the screen reading), and to
connect the ammeter using two suitable leads, the positive lead should be inserted on the 2A
or 10A terminal and the negative lead should be connected to the COM terminal. In DC
measurements, select the DC option, and pay attention to the polarity when connecting your
ammeter.
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11. Did you connect the Ammeter in series or parallel with the LED?

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12. Are the theoretical and measured values for the current in the LED close or far
apart?

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Conclusions