Voltage divider

Resistors connected in series divide the voltage supplied to them in a certain proportion.

Calculating the proportion

The current strength flowing through the resistors is identical, because they are connected in
series, and according to Ohm's law, it can be calculated the following way:

Using Ohm’s law, we can also calculate the Vout voltage, which falls on the R2 resistor:

From this formula, we can see that the larger R2 is relative to R1, the more the voltage drops
on it.
Reading resistive sensors
If instead of R2 we use not a fixed resistor, but a sensor that changes its resistance, Vout
will depend on the measured value.

The microcontroller can measure voltage. Thus, we can use the properties of the voltage
divider to obtain readings from the sensor.
Examples of resistive sensors
Thermistor
The thermistor changes its resistance depending on its temperature.
Photoresistor

The photoresistor (eng. Light Dependent Resistor or LDR for short) changes its resistance
depending on the light intensity falling on its ceramic substrate.
Potentiometer

The potentiometer is also called a variable resistor or a trimmer. This is a divider of two
resistors in a single package. Therefore, it has three pins: input (power), output and ground.
The ratio of R1 and R2 is changed by turning the knob: from 100% in favor of R1 to 100% in
favor of R2.
Practicum
● A potentiometer as a voltage divider in the "Lamp with controllable brightness"
experiment
● A voltage divider in the "Thereminvox" experiment