University of Arkansas

Department of Mechanical Engineering

Laboratory 1:January 29, 2018

E​FFECT​ ​OF​ R​ESISTORS​ ​AND​ F​REQUENCY​ ​ON​ V​OLTAGE​ D​IVIDER​ ​AND​ RC C​IRCUITS
Victor Perez
Department of Mechanical Engineering

supply voltage to the circuit and using a digital storage

Abstract oscilloscope to find the values of voltage and frequency of the
circuit under varying resistive and capacitive loads.
Using experimental methods the effects of resistors and
frequency on simple Voltage Divider circuits and Low-Pass Theory
RC circuits were measured. These measurements confirmed
the theoretical values of voltage output for a voltage divider Computing the voltage output is used to determine how much
circuit. The measurements also showed the effect of voltage is lost through the resistors from the initial voltage
frequencies above and below cutoff frequency on RC circuits. input. To calculate the voltage output of a circuit the following
This was accomplished by constructing simple circuits and equation is used:
taking measurements using a function generator and an
oscilloscope. V out = V in ( R2
R1 + R2 ) …………… (1)
Nomenclature
The cut-off frequency is the point when energy flowing
through the circuit begins to be reflected rather than flowing
V Voltage, V
through the circuit.
R Resistance, 𝛀
To calculate the value of the cut-off frequency in a capacitor
C Capacitance, F
the following equation is used:
f c Cutoff Frequency, Hz
Subscripts 1
fc = 2πRC ……………………….(2)
1 First resistor in the circuit
2 Second resistor in the circuit
In order to compare your measurements and the calculated
in Voltage entering first resistor
values to find the percent error the following equation is used:
out Voltage exiting between first and second resistor
pp Peak to peak
%error = ||
Experimental value − T heoretical value |
T heoretical value | * 100% ……..(3)
Introduction

While constructing circuits one needs to know how the voltage

in the circuit will be affected by the configuration of the M​ATERIALS
circuit and the resistors and capacitors in the circuit. Resistors
and the frequency of the of the circuit can be used to control 1. Function Generator, Siglent, SDG1025
the flow of current through the circuit. Resistors in a voltage 2. Oscilloscope, B+K, 2530B
divider can direct the current flow through certain parts of a 3. Multimeter, Extech, MN35
circuit. The frequency can control the charging and 4. Breadboard
discharging of a capacitor. While this can all be calculated 5. Resistors, 2 x 120𝛀, 1 x 200 k𝛀
empirically it is more useful for control systems to be able to 6. Capacitor, 561 1 KV, 500 pF [2]
measure them and analyze them realtime. The purpose of this
lab is to prove the voltage divider laws by measurement,and E​XPERIMENTAL​ S​ETUP
show the effect of frequency on a capacitive circuit.
Figure 1. Experimental Setup.
Objective

The objective of this experiment is to construct a voltage

divider circuit using resistors. Using a function generator to

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P​ROCEDURE

1. Using the Function Generator, Oscilloscope and both

120𝛀 resistors, construct a simple voltage divider
circuit following the diagram below

Figure 3. Completed Circuit

2. Using the Function Generator generate a 5V​pp ​, 100
Hz waveform. Record, from the Oscilloscope, the
measured input and output voltages. Before recording
ensure the 10X switch on the gray probe is switched
to the off position. (The data gathered from the
oscilloscope is included in the appendix)
3. Rebuild the circuit changing R​1 ​to the 200 k𝛀
resistor then repeat step 2.
. 4. Rebuild the circuit changing R​1 back to the 120𝛀
Figure 2. Voltage Divider [4] resistor and replacing R​2 with the 200 k𝛀 resistor
A picture of the completed circuit follows. then repeat step 2.
5. Using Equation (2) calculate the cutoff frequency of
the Capacitor.
6. Construct a basic Low-pass RC circuit following the
diagram below using the 200 k𝛀 resistor.

Figure 4. Low-pass RC Circuit [4]

A picture of the completed circuit follows.

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 200​K​ - 120 5.52 .00332 .00300

120- 200​K 5.52 5.516 4.997

Table 1: Voltage Divider Data

V​OLTAGE​ I​NPUT V​OLTAGE​ O​UTPUT

(V​OLTS​) (V​OLTS​)

50% ​BELOW 5.76 4.24

CUTOFF

50% ​ABOVE 5.68 2.92

CUTOFF

Table 2: RC circuit data

The circuit using the two 120𝛀 resistors resulted in an error of

12%. The percent error was found using equation (3). The
circuit containing the 200k𝛀 resistor first resulted in an error
of 10.7%. The circuit containing the 120 resistor first resulted
in a 10.4% error.

Figure 5. Completed RC Circuit For the RC circuit a decrease in output voltage across the
7. Use the Function Generator to produce a signal 50% circuit was observed as the frequency was increased from 50%
below f c . Record output below the cut-off to 50% above the cut-off frequency. As the
8. Repeat Step 7 using a signal 50% above the cutoff frequency is increased a lower resistance is measured due to
frequency. the fact that the capacitive resistance of a capacitor is
inversely proportional to the frequency of the current.

D​ISCUSSION​ ​OF​ D​ATA​ ​AND​ R​ESULTS
As stated in the procedure the three resistors are used to
construct three different voltage dividers. Using the
Oscilloscope to record the measured voltage and using
equation (1) to record the calculated voltage. Table 1 below
contains data.
Also stated in the procedure an RC circuit is constructed,
using equation (2) the cut-off frequency was calculated as
1591.549431 Hz. Next the function generator was used to
produce a 5V peak to peak that is 50% below the cut-off and
also above the cut-off frequency. The voltage input and output
is recorded in Table 2 below.
The 10x gain O-scope decreased the voltage in the RC circuit
and a signal reduction of a factor ten was observed.
C​ONCLUSIONS
The frequency of the input voltage is inversely proportional to
the capacitive resistance.
The resistors don’t change waveform of the signal, only
amplitude.
The capacitors change waveform of the signal in relation to
how much voltage is being transmitted through them.

A​CKNOWLEDGMENTS

R​ESISTANCE M​EASURED M​EASURED C​ALCULATED Thanks to the University of Arkansas Mechanical Engineering
(O​HMS​) V​OLTAGE​ I​NPUT V​OLTAGE V​OLTAGE department for providing the equipment and facilities needed
(V​OLTS​) O​UTPUT O​UTPUT for this experiment. Thanks to Monty Roberts for providing
(V​OLTS​) (V​OLTS​) guides, concepts, and instructions to operate equipment.
120X2 4.40 2.20 2.5 REFERENCES

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[1] Roberts, Monty. ​Lab 1 Unit 2 Procedure​.
[2]Capacitors.URL:
https://www.westfloridacomponents.com/Capacitors.html
[3]ElectricalEngineering.URL:
https://electronics.stackexchange.com/
[4] Voltage Divider, Wikipedia. URL:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voltage_divider

APPENDIX

Figure 7. Read out for R​1​= 200 k𝛀, R​2​=120 𝛀

Figure 6. Read out for R​1​=120𝛀, R​2​=200 k𝛀

Figure 8. Read out for RC Circuit 50% below f c .

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Figure 9. Read out for 50% above f c .

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