Name: __________________________________________________________ Date: ______________

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PHYS 41 – University Physics III

Laboratory Activity No. 5
Circuits and Ohm’s Law

I. INTRODUCTION

A circuit is an unbroken loop of conductive materials, which allows charge to flow continuously
without beginning or end. An electrical circuit is composed of a source of electrical power, a conductor
that permits the current to flow and a load.
In a circuit we can calculate for the resistance, voltage and current using the relationship
introduced by Georg Ohm in 1827.
The law states that the current through a conductor between two points is directly proportional to
the voltage across the two points. Mathematically described as,

V =IR
where I is the current through the conductor in units of amperes, V is the voltage measured across
the conductor in units of volts, and R is the resistance of the conductor in units of ohms. More
specifically, Ohm's law states that the R in this relation is constant, independent of the current. Ohm's law
is an empirical relation which accurately describes the conductivity of the vast majority of electrically
conductive materials over many orders of magnitude of current.

II. OBJECTIVE

At the end of the activity, you will be able to:

1. describe the relationship between current, resistance, and voltage;

2. build a circuit with complete elements; and
3. apply Ohm’s Law

III. MATERIALS/RESOURCES

PhET: Circuit Constrution Kit: DC

IV. PROCEDURE
Part I
1. Drag a resistor over to the circuit board. Right click on it and change the resistance to your
value of choice.
2. Attach a wire to each end of the resistor.
3. Attach an ammeter (measures current in amps) to the free end of one wire.
4. Attach a battery to the free end of the other wire.
5. Connect the free end of the ammeter to the free end of the battery with one more wire.
6. Drag a voltmeter to the circuit board. Connect the red probe to one end of the resistor and the
black probe to the other end of the resistor
Part II
1. Right click on the battery and change the voltage to the first value in Table 1. This should change
the current in the wire. Record the current in Table 1.

Table 1. Current and Voltage Values

Voltage Current
5V
10V
15V
20V
25V

1
 Voltage Current
30V
35V

2. Repeat step 1 for the rest of your voltages.

3. Fill in the appropriate scale on the y-axis on Figure 1. Since current varies with voltage, current is
the independent variable. Fill in your y-axis scale according to your current values.
4. Plot the voltage and current on Figure 1. The current is in the y-axis and the voltage is in the x-
axis.

Figure 1. I-V Plot

V. QUESTIONS/ANALYSES

1. What is the slope of your graph? Is it positive or negative? What does this indicate about the
relationship between voltage and current?

2. What does this slope represent in the Ohm’s Law formula? Hint: The dependent variable is
voltage, and the independent variable is current.

2
3. Use your answers from 1 and 2 to calculate the resistance. Does this match the actual resistance
you chose when you set up your circuit?

4. Explain in words the relationship between resistance and current.

5. If you doubled the resistance, but kept the same voltages, how would the graph of currents look
different? Describe how the slope has changed. Draw a rough sketch on the graph.

6. When a circuit doesn’t operate as expected, Ohm’s Law can be helpful in diagnosing the
problem. If the current is higher than it should be, you know that either the voltage is too high or
the resistance is too low. Likewise, if the current is lower than it should be, either the voltage is
too low or the resistance is too high. Say you are troubleshooting a circuit that should be running
at 1 A, but an ammeter reads a current of 4 A. What are two ways to get the current down to 1 A?
(Be specific, show calculations.)