Experiment I : Ohm's Law

and Not Ohm's Law

I. Purpose of this Experiment
The main purpose of this experiment is to review the measurement of voltage (V), current (I),
and resistance (R) in dc circuits. In the first part, you will measure the internal resistance of a
battery and examine the relationship between V and I in a resistor which obeys Ohm's law. In
second part of the lab, you will measure the resistance of some electrical devices that do not obey
Ohms law.

II. References
Halliday, Resnick and Krane, Physics, Vol. 2, 4th Ed., Chapters 32, 33
Purcell, Electricity and Magnetism, Chapter 4
Taylor, An Introduction to Error Analysis, Second Edition

II. Equipment
Digital multimeters
Resistor board with 4, 5 10, and 20 ohm resistors
6-volt battery
knife switch
10 V Power Supply
diode board with switching diodes, LED and 40 ohm resistor

III. Introduction
This section contains background material on current, voltage and resistance that you
should already know from your prior physics classes, including high-school physics, Physics
174, and Physics 272. A few days before your lab class starts, at the latest, take a quick look over
this introduction. If you find you are already familiar with the material, then skip to the next
section and go over the experiment. You probably will need to read the section on diodes, since
this is usually not covered in beginning physics classes. If you are not familiar with the other
material in the introduction, then you have missed or forgotten some very important and basic
physics and you need to give this introduction a thorough and careful reading. You also should
dig out your Physics 272 text, or one of the references above, and read over chapters on dc
circuits.
Voltage
When an electric charge moves between two points that have an electric potential
difference between them, work is done on the charge by the source that is creating the potential.
4

The amount of work that is done is equal to the decrease in the potential energy of the charge.
The difference in potential energy is equal to the product of the difference in the electrical
potential between the points and the magnitude of the electric charge. In the SI system of units,
the unit of electrical potential difference is the volt (written as V). For this reason, almost
everyone who work with circuits say "voltage difference" instead of "electrical potential
difference". Voltages are measured using a voltmeter. Voltage differences are always measured
between two points, with one lead of the voltmeter connected to one point and the second lead
connected to another point. On the other hand, diagrams of circuits almost always show the
voltage at individual locations in the circuit. If the voltage is given at one point, then this means
that the second point was at "ground" potential or "zero volts" and this ground point is labeled
on a circuit schematic using a special symbol (see Figure 1.2).
Current
The rate at which charge passes through a surface is called the electrical current.
Current is measured in Ampres, commonly called amps, with units written as A. One amp of
current is defined as one Coulomb of charge passing through a cross-sectional area per second.
Since an electron has a charge of -1.609x10-19 C, This is equivalent to about 61018 electrons
passing per second. Current is measured using an ammeter which is placed in a circuit so that
the current flows into the positive terminal of the ammeter and out the negative terminal. Since
the current flows through the ammeter, and we do not want the ammeter to disrupt the current
that is ordinarily flowing through a circuit, an ammeter has a low resistance. Never connect an
ammeter directly across a battery (or other voltage source), since this will result in a large current
flowing through the ammeter, possibly damaging it or the battery. Note that in contrast a
voltmeter has a high resistance.
Resistance and Ohm's Law
When current is driven through an ordinary electrically conducting material, such as a
metal or semiconductor at room temperature, it encounters resistance. You can think of
resistance as a sort of frictional drag. In a sample made of a good conductor, the current is
directly proportional to the potential difference, i.e.
I

1
V
R

This relationship is called Ohm's Law and is usually written:

V=IR
In this relationship, I is the current flowing through the sample. The potential difference V is the
difference in voltage between one end of the sample (where the current enters) to the other end
(where the current leaves). Finally, R is the resistance of the sample. In the SI system of units,
resistance has unit of ohms, which is written as .
In many materials the resistance does not change with the amount of voltage applied or
the current passing through it, over a large range of both parameters, so it is a constant to a very
good approximation. The resistors used in this lab are made of thin metal films or carbon (a
semiconductor). You should find that they obey Ohms Law very well. Metals are examples of
good conductors. They have a high density of electrons that are relatively free to move around,
so that connections made with metal tend to have a low resistance. In an electrical insulator, the
electrons are more tightly bound and cannot move freely. In a semiconductor, most of the
electrons are tightly bound, but there is a small fraction (compared to a metal) that are free to

conduct current. The small density of carriers in semiconductors makes them more resistive than
metals, and much more conducting than insulators. It also gives them many other unusual
properties, some of which we will see in this lab.
Batteries and EMF
There are a variety of ways to generate a voltage difference. Batteries produce an
electrical potential difference through chemical reactions. If the plus (+) and minus (-) leads of a
battery are connected across a resistor, a current will flow out of the positive terminal of the
battery (which has a more positive potential than the negative terminal), through the resistor and
into the negative terminal. In other words, the positive current flows from the positive to the
negative terminal of the battery. Inside the battery, chemical reactions drive a current flow from
the more negative region to the more positive region. As a result, a battery can be thought of as a
charge pump that is trying to push positive charge out of the + terminal and suck positive charge
into the - terminal.
In physics and EE textbooks, one also encounters the terms electromotive force or EMF.
The term EMF comes from the idea that a force needs to be exerted on charges to move them
through a wire (to overcome the resistance of the piece of wire to the flow of the current). The
battery can be thought of as the source of this force. However, the EMF of a battery is just the
voltage difference generated across the terminals of the battery and is measured in volts. So EMF
is not actually a force, despite its name. In Physics 276, we will not make distinctions between
the EMF, the voltage difference, and the electrical potential difference, but use these terms
interchangeably.
Part of this experiment is to measure the EMF and internal resistance of a battery.
When a current flows inside a battery it is also encounters resistance and the battery is said to
have an internal resistance. Batteries with low internal resistance, such as the 12 V lead-acid
batteries commonly found in cars, can deliver a lot of current. They need to be treated with
caution; shorting together the terminals of a battery (or other voltage source) with a low internal
resistance could lead to melted wires, a fire, or the battery exploding. On the other hand, batteries
with high internal resistance cannot deliver much current and show significant loss of voltage
when current is supplied.
Electrical Symbols
Components used in electrical experiments have standard symbols. Those required in
this experiment are shown in Fig. (1.2). You should understand what each symbol represents and
use them when drawing schematics of your own circuits.

electrical
ground
(V=0)

Figure 1.2. Some common symbols used in electrical circuits.

Figure 1.3 Simple circuit with a battery and two resistors showing direction of positive current
flow I.
Electrical Circuits
An electrical circuit is formed by using wires to connect together resistors, batteries,
switches, or other electrical components into one or more connected closed loops. Where three or
more wires meet, the current will split between the different paths. However each new path for
current flow that is created at these junctions must rejoin another channel at some other point, so
that all loops close. All loops that are created must be closed so that current can flow.
Kirchhoff's Rules
There are two very useful rules for analyzing electrical circuits and finding the currents
and voltages at different points in a circuit.
Rule 1: In going round a closed loop the total change in voltage must be zero.
Rule 2: The current flowing into any junction where wires meet is equal to the current
flowing out of the junction.
For example, applying the first rule to Fig.1.3 and assuming that the conductors joining
the components have zero resistance, we find the potential differences between the lettered
points in the circuit are given by:
V A VB V AB 0 VBC IR
VCD 0 V DE Ir
VEF 0 VFG

Summing all the differences we get:

V AA IR Ir 0
which can be rewritten:
I (R r) .
As another example, we can apply rule 2 to Fig. 1.3. Considering the nodes at points P
7

and Q in the circuit, we get

At P:

Current in = I
Current out = I1 + I2

At Q:

Current in = I1 and I2
Current out = I

Both points yield the equation I = I1 + I2.

Figure I-3
(a)

(b)

O'
Figure I-4: (a) Connecting resistors R1 and R2 in series produces a resistance R R1 R2 . (b)
R1 R2
Connecting resistors R1 and R2 in series produces a resistance R
.
R1 R2
Series and Parallel Resistors
In Physics 174, you measured the resistance of two resistors when they were connected in
series (see Fig. 1.4 a) and in parallel (see Fig. 1.4 b). For the series connection, one finds
RR
R R1 R2 , i.e. the resistance adds. For the parallel connection, one finds R 1 2 .
R1 R2
These elementary results can be derived by applying Kirchoff's rules. For example,
consider the series connected resistors. Since current is conserved, the current I in R1 must be the
same as the current I in R2. Hence the voltage drop across R1 is V1 IR1 and the voltage drop
across R2 is V2 IR2 . Thus we can write V1 V2 I ( R1 R2 ) . This is equivalent to writing
8

V IR where V V1 V2 and R R1 R2 , i.e. two resistors connected in series are equivalent

to one resistor whose value is equal to their sum. This argument can be generalized to n resistors
in series, and one finds R i Ri .
Next, consider the parallel connected resistors. The potential difference V between O and
O must be the same whether we go along OABO or OCDO . Also conservation of current
requires that I I 1 I 2 , where:
I 1 V R1

is the current through R1 and

I 2 V R2

is the current through R2. Substituting these expressions for I1 and I2 into our equation for I gives:
1
1
I V

R1 R2

This is equivalent to writing V IR where R R1 R2 ( R1 R2 ) . This argument can be

n
1
1
.
generalized to n resistors connected in parallel and one finds
R i 1 Ri
Diodes
Not everything obeys Ohm's law, i.e. current is not necessarily proportional to voltage. In
this lab you will also measure the characteristics of a common type of electrical device called a
diode. A diode consists of a junction of an n-type semiconductor and a "p-type"
semiconductor. The current in n-type semiconductors is carried by negative charges (the
electrons), while in p-type semiconductors the current is best thought of as being carried by
positive charges (called "holes" that are due to missing electrons). When n and p materials are
brought together, a few electrons will drift from n to p and some holes will drift from p to n. This
charge transfer between n and p regions generates an internal electrical potential at the junction
which opposes further transfer of electrons and holes between the two sides. It is possible to
drive current from p to n (i.e. holes from the p region to n and electrons from the n region to the
p) only if this potential barrier is overcome by applying a sufficiently large voltage difference
across the diode. For current to flow, the p region must be positive with respect to the n.
Applying a positive voltage to n and a negative voltage to p produces only a very small leakage
current. Thus the diode acts like a one-way valve with low resistance to current flowing in the
direction of the arrow, and high resistance to current flowing in the opposite direction. If too
much voltage is applied in either direction, the diode will be destroyed.
The symbol for a diode is shown in Fig. 1.1 (a). The tip of the triangle points in the
direction that current can flow with low resistance. The characteristics of an IN914 switching
diode are shown in Table 1.1. This is one of the diodes that you can measure in the lab. A light
emitting diode (LED) has also been provided. In an LED, the current flow causes emission of
light with a fairly well-defined wavelength or color. LEDs are efficient, reliable and long-lived,
provided you don't apply too much voltage across them. A red, yellow or green LED can
typically withstand about 3 V and about 5V for a blue LED.
(a)

(b)

anode
b

cathode
a

I
(c)

Figure 1.1: (a) Electrical symbol for a diode. (b) When Vb > Vg+Va, current flows through the
diode, from b (the p-type region or anode) to a (the n-type region or cathode). Here Vg is the
threshold voltage that needs to be reached before significant forward conduction occurs. When
Vb < Vg+Va the flow of current is blocked. In particular, when Vb<Va, the device is said to be
"reverse biased" and only a very small leakage current will flow. (c) Sketch of the physical
layout of an 1N914 switching diode. The dark black band is on the cathode.
Table 1.1 Some electrical characteristics of the IN914 switching diode.
Peak Reverse Voltage

75 V

Average Forward Rectified Current

75 mA

Peak Surge Current, 1 Second

500 mA

Continuous Power Dissipation at 25C

250 mW

Operating Temperature Range

-65 to 175C

Reverse Breakdown Voltage

100 V

Static Reverse Current

25 nA

Static Forward Voltage

1 V at 10 mA

Capacitance

4 pF

Typical threshold voltage

0.6 V

VII. Experiment
A. Internal Resistance and EMF of a Battery

10

The purpose of this part is to measure the EMF and internal resistance of a battery.
A.1 Before taking data, put a 20 load across the battery and monitor the battery voltage for 30
seconds with a digital voltmeter. If the voltage remains constant to within about 5 mV, proceed,
but if it decreases by more than this, the battery should be replaced with a new one if they are
available.
A.2 Connect up the circuit shown in Fig. I.5. Leave the switch open for now. Here A is a digital
ammeter and V a digital voltmeter. The variable resistance R can be achieved by choosing
various combinations of resistances on the resistor board. S is a knife-switch that is normally
open and should only be closed when you are taking a measurement. This helps avoid
exhausting the battery. The internal resistance of the battery is denoted as r and you should not
add it to the circuit, since it is already there inside the battery itself.
A.3 You should know that the ammeter A introduces a small series resistance R ammeter into the
circuit and the insertion of the voltmeter V introduces a large resistance R voltmeter in parallel to R.
Consult the appendix to this lab manual (or the instruction manual for the meter) to determine the
"internal impedance" of the meter when it is acting either as a voltmeter or as an ammeter.
Notice that the internal impedance for the ammeter depends on whether you are using the 10 A
plug or the 300 mA plug on the multimeter. Record the values for R ammeter and Rvoltmeter in your lab
notebook.
A.4 Have your instructor check your circuit before closing the switch.
A.5. Measure V and I for about 6 to 10 values of R. You should record this data in a table in your
lab notebook. As you are making these measurements, periodically measure the battery EMF
with the switch open using the voltmeter to be sure that it remains constant. If it isnt, consult
with your instructor. When you are finished, open up the switch.
S

Figure I.5 Circuit schematic for part A showing battery's internal resistance r and EMF .
A.6. Now record the random uncertainty associated with each voltage and current
measurement. If the meter reading is steady (it should be in this case), then the random
uncertainty will just be determined by the limited number of digits displayed on the multimeter.
You can use the 2/3 rule for digital scales, consult the appendix on the Fluke 75 meter, or check

11

the Fluke 75 operating manual. The random uncertainties will be used for making a linear fit in
the next section.
A.7. Finally, record the systematic error or accuracy of each current and voltage measurements.
Since we don't have a current or voltage standard in the lab for you to calibrate your meters, you
will need to consult the appendix on the Fluke 75 meter, or check the Fluke 75 operating manual
for the accuracy of each of your measurements. Make sure that your instructor takes a look at
your numbers. The systematic uncertainties will be accounted for in your error analysis in the
following section, after you have extracted the fit parameters.

B. Analysis of Your Data using Ohm's Law

B.1. Put your data into Excel and plot V vs I. Be sure to include the random uncertainties in V
and I as error bars.
B.2. Does your plot look like a straight line? It should if Ohm's law is correct and your battery is
stable. Neglecting the resistances of the meters, the equations describing the circuit are
V IR

and

I (R r)

These can be combined and rewritten as

V rI .
Thus, when you plot V versus I, the theory says that the slope should be -r and the intercept .
B.3 Use the spreadsheet "straight line chi-square fit.doc" to fit your data to a straight line. We
know that after Physics 174 and 275, you should be able to make your own spreadsheet for doing
a 2 fit. To save time, we built one for you with all of the bells and whistles, and all you need to
do is paste in your data and run the solver to get the best fit slopes. The spreadsheet is also set up
to calculate the uncertainty in the slope and intercept that is caused by your random errors in
both the current and voltage measurements; make sure for this part that you are only using the
random errors in your V and I measurements and not the systematic errors. Do the fits and add
your fitted result to your plot. Find the slope -r and intercept along with their uncertainties and
record in your lab notebook. Make sure you copy and save all of the contents of this spreadsheet
in your own spreadsheet.
B.4 Finally, you need to compute the systematic error in the best fit values you found for and
r. Your instructor should have discussed how to handle systematic errors at the beginning of the
lab. Since you have never had to include the systematic error in your analysis before, we'll give
you the result here:
sys

v 2 bv 2 r bI 2

rsys r v 2 I 2

Here the and r are your best fit values that you found above, v is the accuracy in the

12

calibration of the voltage scale, I is the accuracy in the calibration of the current scale, bv is
the accuracy in the zero of the voltage scale (the voltage "offset"), and bI is the accuracy in the
in the zero of the current scale (the current "offset"). The Table below lists values from the Fluke
75 Operators Manual or the appendix. Note that v and I are dimensionless numbers
(typically v = 0.003 and I = 0.015) and we have assumed that you have used the same scale
for all of your measurements.
Table of unceratinty and accuracy for the Fluke 75 current and voltage scales
function

V dc

dc

range

3.200 V
32.00 V
320.0 V
1000 V
32.00 mA
320.0 mA
10.00 A

instrumental
uncertainty

0.0003 V
0.003 V
0.03 V
0.3 V
0.003 mA
0.03 mA
0.003 A

accuracy
scale
offset
b
(0.4% of reading) + (0.001 V)
(0.3% of reading) + (0.01 V)
(0.3% of reading) + (0.1 V)
(0.4% of reading) + (1 V)
(1.5% of reading) + (0.02 mA)
(1.5% of reading) + (0.2 mA)
(1.5% of reading) + (0.02 A)

B5. In your lab report, you should give the uncertainties and r, and also the systematic errors
and r, and determine which is more important for and r. You can also compute the total
uncertainty in for example, by adding in quadrature the unceratinty and the systematic error in
.

C. Devices that Don't Obey Ohm's Law

C.1. Wire up the circuit shown in Fig. I.6 using one of the diodes on the diode board. Record in
your lab notebook which diode you chose. The 40 load resistor RL is used to limit the total
amount of current flowing through the diode so that it does not burn up. V0 is a power supply.
C.2. Measure the voltage across the load resistor, the voltage across the diode, the input voltage,
and the current through the loop for various input voltages between 10 V (you will need to
move around the voltmeter).
C.3. Optional Exercise: Verify that Kirchoffs laws are satisfied by calculating the load
resistance and the input voltage and comparing to your measurements.
C.4. Put your data into a spreadsheet and plot the current I through the diode as a function of
voltage V across the diode. Take enough data that so that you can clearly see the non-Ohmic
behavior of the diode. This type of plot is called an I-V characteristic".

13

IN914

RL = 40

voltage
source
Vo

Figure I.6 Circuit schematic for measuring the IV characteristic of a diode. Use a power supply
instead of a battery for the voltage source Vo. The voltmeter used for measuring the voltage drop
across the diode is not shown in this schematic.
C.5. Calculate the effective resistance of the diode as a function of the voltage across it. Make
sure in you lab report that you describe your results.
C.6. BEFORE LEAVING THE LAB, TURN IN A COPY OF YOUR SPREADSHEET TO
BLACKBOARD.
For Hotshots Only
H.1. If you have time, repeat steps 1-4 above for a different type of diode on your diode board.
In particular, if you did not choose an LED in part C, do so now. How are the IV curves different
for the two diodes? Make sure you do not exceed the maximum allowed voltage (5V for a blue
diode, 3 V for red or yellow diodes).
H.2. Still got time left? Ask your instructor for a light bulb. Wire it up and measure its IV curve.
How is it similar to a diode and how is it different from a diode?

VII. Additional Topics to be Included in your lab report

1. Don't forget that you have one week to do your lab report and they are due at the start of the
lab. Lab reports should be submitted to Blackboard. You must write your own report and are not
allowed to copy anyone else's data, text or figures. You must include on the first page of your
report a signed copy of the honors pledge.
2. Review the requirements for your lab report before starting to write it up (see the Introduction
to Physics 276 in this manual and the handout provided by your instructor on how they will be
graded).
3. Among other things, your lab report should have a clear discussion of the analysis you did in

14

part B and what you found as a result of that analysis. Be sure to compare your deduced EMF
with your direct measurements of the battery output voltage.
4. Your report must include a discussion of the random uncertainties in your measurements of
current and voltage, and how much these affect your values for r and .
5. Your report should include a discussion of the systematic uncertainties in your measurements
of current and voltage, and how much these affect your values for r and .
6. You should also have a section that includes the resistances of the meters in your analysis by
including their effects in the circuit equations. Don't forget to look in the appendix to get these
parameters. Determine whether an appreciable error has been made in the determination of
either or r by neglecting the resistances of the meters.

15

Appendix C. The Fluke 77 series Multimeter

The following table gives specifications for the Fluke 75 series II multimeter. Data used in
constructing the table was obtained from the Fluke 75 Users Manual. For each listed function of
the multimeter, the Table gives the possible range scales available. For each possible range scale
of each listed function, the table gives the resolution, instrumental uncertainty (using the 2/3
rule), the accuracy of a reading and the input impedance of the meter. For full analysis of the
systematic errors, the accuracy of each scale is given in terms of the accuracy of the scale
factor and the accuracy b of the zero (the offset error).
Table of Selected Specifications for the Fluke 77 series II Multimeter
function range
resolution instrumental
accuracy
uncertainty
scale
offset
b
V dc
3.200 V
0.001 V
(0.4% of reading) + (0.001 V)
0.0003 V
32.00 V
0.01 V
(0.3% of reading) + (0.01 V)
0.003 V
320.0 V
0.1 V
(0.3% of reading) + (0.1 V)
0.03 V
1000 V
1V
(0.4% of reading) + (1 V)
0.3 V
mV dc
320.0 mV 0.1 mV
(0.3% of reading) + (0.1 mV)
0.03 mV
V ac

A ac

dc

3.200 V
32.00 V
320.0 V
750 V
320.0
3.200 k
32.00 k
320.0 k
3.200 M
32.00 M
32.00 mA
320.0 mA
10.00 A

0.001 V
0.01 V
0.1 V
1V
0.1
0.001 k
0.01 k
0.1 k
0.001 M
0.01 M
0.01 mA
0.1 mA
0.01 A

32.00 mA
320.0 mA
10.00 A

0.01 mA
0.1 mA
0.01 A

0.0003 V
0.003 V
0.03 V
0.3 V
0.03
0.0003 k
0.003 k
0.03 k
0.0003 M
0.003 M
0.003 mA
0.03 mA
0.003 A
0.003 mA
0.03 mA
0.003 A

(2% of reading) + (0.002 V)

(2% of reading) + (0.02 V)
(2% of reading) + (0.2V)
(2% of reading) + (10 V)
(0.5% of reading) + (0.2 )
(0.5% of reading) + (1 )
(0.5% of reading) + (10 )
(0.5% of reading) + (100 )
(0.5% of reading) + (1 k)
(2% of reading) + (10 k)
(2.5% of reading) + (0.02 mA)
(2.5% of reading) + (0.2 mA)
(2.5% of reading) + (0.02 A)
(1.5% of reading) + (0.02 mA)
(1.5% of reading) + (0.2 mA)
(1.5% of reading) + (0.02 A)

input
impedance

R>10 M
C50 pF
R>10 M
C50 pF
R>10 M
C50 pF
not
applicable

6
6
0.05
6
6
0.05

Example: If a reading of 20 V is measured on the 32.00 V dc range setting, the resolution is

0.01 V, the instrumental uncertainty is v = 0.003 V, and the accuracy is 0.3% of the
measurement plus 0.01 V, i.e. the accuracy (systematic error) of the measurement is:
0.3%*20 V + 0.01 V = (0.3/100)*20 V + 0.01 V = 0.06 V + 0.01 V = 0.07 V.
16

17