A DIGITAL THERMOMETER

PLAN
AIM
While keeping the voltage constant using a variable resistor. Vary temperature and take readings of
the temperature and the current, from this a graph can be made which you can find e, the charge on
the electron.

APPARATUS
Voltmeter
Milliammeter
Mercury thermometer
1 k variable resistor
Battery supply
Diode

Bunsen burner
Wires
Tripod
Gauze
Water

Circuit diagram and layout diagram for beaker & burner, thermometer & diode
METHOD
Heat will be applied to the water, reading will be taken of I and T when it increases by 5 0C
while stirring the water.
While varying the variable resistor to keep the voltage to 0.6 V record the current (I) by
using an ammeter set to mA as the readings will be low. Readings will not need to be
repeated as the ammeter is very accurate.
The second measurement will be to measure the temperature (T) of the diode using a
thermometer. This will give me an accuracy to 1 0C, they will be taken every 5 0C along with
I.
OTHER QUANTITIES
The main quantity to keep this a fair test will be to keep the voltage constant at all times
depending on what voltage you start on (eg 0.6 V) you will need to take a control which will
be the room temperature. Note the same apparatus should be used at all times.
REPEATS
As there is not any high uncertainties to be taken into account the reading should be
repeated only once. If there is a great margin then they could be repeated again.
SAFETY
There is no great danger that can come from this experiment but behaviour should be good
when taking the test.

DATA
I = I0 exp ( -eV/kT)

multiply this by ln

END OF PLAN
IMPLEMENTATION & READINGS
READINGS
At room temperature 23 0C V = 0.67 V, I = 6.36 mA
Containing ice T = 1 0C, I = 2.37 mA when V = 0.67 V
T/ 0C
0
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
55
60
65
70
75
80
85
90
95
100

I/mA
2.37
4.09
5.46
6.20
7.74
9.43
10.84
12.70
14.92
18.07
22.0
24.4
30.1
35.0
39.1
48.0
56.6
61.8
71.2

ln (I/mA)
0.863
1.409
1.697
1.825
2.046
2.244
2.383
2.542
2.703
2.894
3.091
3.195
3.405
3.555
3.666
3.871
4.036
4.124
4.265

I made sure the beaker was stable and used a retort stand to keep the wires from melting. I
used ice to get down to a low temperature. For every reading I removed the Bunsen at the
time of reading to improve accuracy.
I plotted a graph of my readings (see attached hand drawn graph)

ANALYSIS
GRAPH see attached
The graph shows that temperature is proportional to ln I, so as T increases so does ln I at the
same rate. Therefore the best line of fit is a straight one.

GRADIENT & RESULTS

I also used the equation
m = eV/2k

to find a value for e.

From the graph for the gradient calculation (4.32 1.13)/ 100 = 0.0319 0C-1
It turns out that e = 5.56 x 10-21 C, which is a lot smaller than the actual value of 1.6 x 10 -19 C.
This must be down to m as all the others are constant.
UNCERTAINTIES
In this test the main error was reading the thermometer which gave an error of 1 0C . I
notices that at the coldest the temperature still read 1 0C despite the ice I took this as a
sign of the uncertainty and called it 0 0C.
The reading for I was uncertain but I had no idea by how much and the scale division is so
small, 0.01 mA, that this is too small to make a difference.
I think my reading for T is pretty accurate since I removed the Bunsen when taking readings
so the temperature stopped rising. I also changed R at this time to keep V constant at the
new temperature.
There was probably some contact resistance in the plugs but this had very little effect I
expect.
MODFICATION FOR FUTURE
The main uncertainty was in the temperature so I would use a datalogger. This could be
used to give a constant reading of T and make it more accurate. It is also more precise than
the other thermometer.
CONCLUSION
From my results it clearly shows that a diode can show a rise or drop in temperature in its
surroundings. However e was a lot smaller.
From the equation V = IxR the voltage is a constant and the resistance you are decreasing as
temperature increases, therefore the current must increase to keep the voltage the same
because more current is needed to keep the same voltage as the diode increases in
temperature.
This shows that for the range 0 0C to 100 0C in space this specific diode can be used to show
the temperature of a space probe while adding little weight to the probe.
FURTHER WORK
Try different types of diode or increase the range of temperature to see if a slope occurs or
try having a smaller or larger voltage.