Physics Control Assessment Calculation of resistivity of Constantan wire by different methods, by length being the only variable being

changed (length experiment) and by changing only the area of the Constantan wire (area experiment).

Introduction
I am going to investigate how the two methods of acquiring the resistivity of constantan will compare to each other with its results and compare that to the actual value of resistivity of constantan, then by getting the absolute error I can determine which of the methods was more accurate. The Length experiment is the most complicated out of the two, however fairly easy. It can be achieved by getting a power pack, connecting it to an ammeter in series then connecting that to the 1 metre long constantan wire, then , connecting the voltmeter in parallel to the constantan wire (which is on top of the one metre long ruler) and finally connecting it back to the power pack. By, gathering the voltage and current every 0.10 m to 1.00m from 0.10m. After the results are inserted to a table the resistance would be calculated then with the area ( 34 s.w.a.g.) with each specific uncertainty to each value, using V=IR (rearranged). After, using R=(pL)/A rearranged to p=(RA)/L resistivity can be calculated. There are difficulties with this process, the resolution of both voltmeter and ammeter are 0.01 (respectable units), when I measured the length of 1 m long wire I used the metre long ruler which had mm separations which means there was an experimental uncertainty of 0.01 m in the length of the wire and the measurement of the diameter of the (34 s.w.a.g. constantan wire) with the micrometre screw gauge which has a resolution of 0.000001.

The Area experiment is the easy one, simply because all that is needed is 1 metre long wires of different areas (30,32,34,36 s.w.a.g.), connected in series to the ammeter and the voltmeter is in parallel to the constantan wire. The current and voltage is recorded, resistance is calculated using rearranged version of V=IR, then with each area and its specific absolute relative percentage error and length, I can get the resistivity of constantan.

Scientific theory
General scientific theory
Resistivity is the difficulty charge carriers have in order to through a material or how strongly a material opposes the flow of current, resistivity is normally measured in ohms metre. Resistance is proportional to length and inversely proportional to area, however, resistivity isnt in proportionality to either length or cross sectional area since it is an intrinsic property of a material therefore size or mass are irrelevant to consider

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Equipment
For both experiments: 5*1 metre long ruler ammeter voltmeter power pack electrical cables *stop watch reels of 34,36,32,30 s.w.a.g. constantan wire

Explanation for equipment:

The stop watch is going to be used to make sure that temperature is not much of a problem when calculating resistivity because temperature can affect resistivity dramatically as it increases resistance due to movement of metal ions in the lattice structure of the metal wire.

Preliminary methods Length experiment:

I will use 1* 1 metre long ruler because its the most suitable to measure a length of a metre as I want to keep my uncertainty as low as possible. I will need an ammeter which will to record the current to the nearest 0.01 ampere at the specific length so I can calculate resistance and get resistivity, its going to make the results less precise since it has a low resolution. The voltmeter will be used to measure the voltage across the constantan wire to calculate resistance so I can acquire resistivity to the nearest 0.01 volts which is going to make my results less precise due to its low resolution. Power pack will be used so the direct current can go through the circuit and I can get readings of current and voltage at specific length. I will use the electrical cable so that I can make a circuit, since these cables conduct electricity so that I am able to calculate resistivity. I will use 34 s.w.a.g. reel for this experiment because it was easier to assemble than the thicker reels and ill need to use it as I'm trying to acquire the resistivity of this material.

Area experiment equipment:

For the area experiment I will use 4* 1 metre ruler to measure 1 metre constantan wire to a less experimental uncertainty as it is 0.0005m and the resolution is 0.001 this low resolution is going to make my results less precise but more accurate to the true value. An ammeter will be used to measure current to 0.01 ampere, which decreases experimental uncertainty and decreases the results precision however it lets me make a more accurate prediction of resistivity. I will use a voltmeter to measure the voltage across the constantan wire to then let me calculate resistance and therefore calculate resistivity, the voltmeter used is of 0.01 volts resolution, I chose this because it was going to give results closer to the real value and its uncertainty would be lower which would impact my results less. I used the all the different s.w.a.g.s (30, 32, 34, 36) at 1 metre long to show how resistivity is a
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constant and to see which of the experiments was closer to the real value.

Investigation
Length experiment preliminary: I did a preliminary experiment to see if my method and results were in the same power (10^1)because then I knew it was a case of looking at simple things which were affecting my results like systematic errors or random errors, then if I found anything I would try to improve for the main experiment. The results for the preliminary length experiment:

From the preliminary results I could see that my results were somewhat in the same power as the real value of 4.90x10^-7, however there were not correct to even 1 decimal place so I thought of what I had to change and that when I realised that I left the power pack on when I was taking the current and voltage of the specific lengths, which meant that temperature was affecting my results as it would make resistance increase and make resistivity increase and therefore make me get the wrong resistivity, this was a systematic error that was proportional to time, therefore I introduced a stop watch which I would used to count 20 seconds after every measurement which would take around 5 to 8 seconds. As well as that I decided to do more trials so that I can get an average (mean) and make sure my results would be more reliable. The results shows (from the graph) that resistivity is 5.17x10^-7 m which is not correct, this was due to temperature increase.
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Main Experiment Actual method:

Firstly, I got all equipment listed in the equipment list but only used 34 s.w.a.g.. reel. I did as follows:
Connected an electrical wire from power pack to ammeter, then, an electrical wire from ammeter to constantan wire which I measured to be 1 m long, then from the other end of constantan wire to powerpack. Finally I got 2 electrical wires and connect them parallel to the constantan wire. It should look like the diagram on the right. I made sure that the voltage used was not higher than 5 volts because that would heat the wire very fast and burn it. I conducted the length experiment as follows: I started at 1 meter, recorded the current and the voltage. Now I started the stopwatch as I turned the power pack off, till it reached 20 seconds. I repeated once more and recorded the results. Started the stop watch and wait till 20 seconds while the power pack was off. I would repeat that procedure every time I decrease the length by 10 cm till I got to 0.10 m, afterwards I used V/I=R to get resistance at each length of each trial. Then I calculated the area of the wire I used using the micrometer screw gauge. I used p=RA/L to calculate what the resistivity of constantan was by inputing the area resistance and length each time I changed the length, as a result I ended up with 10 different resistivities then calculated the mean to give me the average resistivity, to be more precise.

Constantan wire

Variables
The dependent variables in the length experiment were the wire (34 s.w.a.g. wire) therefore the area was a constant because if they were changed the graphs would not make sense but you would be able to get resistivity and it is a constant in material, the same power pack to make it a fair test as different power packs have different resolutions,in addition, it could be damaged which would affect my uncertainties and my results reliability. The independent variable in the length experiment was the length of wire which I took the current and voltage, this was because this allowed me to analyse the resistance against length graph and get gradient=p/A then rearrange to get resistivity.

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As you can see from the results

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