1

Familiarization on the use

of Basic Electrical
Measuring Instruments

LABORATORY EXERCISE 1
PROFESSOR: ENGR. EUFEMIA A. GARCIA

PAMANTASAN NG LUNGSOD NG MAYNILA | Intramuros, Manila

Experiment No. 1
FAMILIARIZATION ON THE USE OF BASIC ELECTRICAL MEASURING INSTRUMENTS

OBJECTIVES:
1. To be familiarized with the basic electrical measuring equipment so the equipment can be
operated in a safe and controlled manner.
2. To know how to use the instruments in performing basic DC measurements.
3. To understand how resistor current and voltage are measured using the digital multimeter.

MATERIALS:
 BREAD BOARD
 CONNECTING WIRES (aka - JUMPER WIRES, SOLID COPPER WIRES)
 RESISTORS
o 500 OHMS
o 1000 OHMS
o 200 OHMS
 VOLT-OHM METER / MULTITESTER
 LED (ANY COLOR)
 VARIABLE DC SUPPLY
 ALLIGATOR CLIPS

DISCUSSION OF THEORY: {to be provided by the student}

PROCEDURE:
1. CREATE OR CONSTRUCT THE CIRCUIT SHOWN BELOW:
 2. CONNECT THE VARIABLE DC SUPPLY IN SERIES WITH A RESISTOR (USE THE 200 OHM FIRST) AND
AN LED.

MEASURING VOLTAGE:
3. SET THE DC SUPPLY TO 3 VOLTS.
4. TURN ON THE DC SUPPLY AND IT WILL LIGHT UP THE LED
5. TURN ON THE MULTITESTER AND SET IT TO MEASURE VOLTS.
6. CHECK THAT THE PROBES ARE CONNECTED TO THE + (RED) INTERFACE OF THE VOLT METER
AND TO THE – (BLACK) INTERFACE OF THE VOLTMETER.
7. USING THE TIP OF THE PROBES, TAP OR CONNECT ONE PROBE TO ONE TERMINAL OF THE
RESISTOR AND THE OTHER PROBE TO THE OTHER TERMINAL OF THE RESISTOR, AS SHOWN IN
THE PICTURE BELOW.

8. NOTE THAT THE POSITIVE PROBE IS CONNECTED FACING THE POSITIVE SIDE OF THE SOURCE
AND THE NEGATIVE PROBE IS TAPPED/CONNECTED FACING THE NEGATIVE SIDE OF THE DC
SOURCE.
9. GET THE VOLTAGE READING AND TAKE NOTE OF THE VALUE.
10. REPEAT STEPS 3 TO 9 USING THE 500 OHM AND 1000 OHM RESISTOR.

RESISTOR VALUE (OHMS) MEASURED VOLTAGE

200 1.235 V
500 1.281 V
1000 1.315 V
MEASURING CURRENT:
11. USING THE SAME CIRCUIT DIAGRAM, MEASURE THE CURRENT FLOWING THROUGH THE CIRCUIT
12. OPEN THE CLOSE-LOOP CIRCUIT, AS SHOWN BELOW

13. NOTICE THAT THE TERMINAL OF THE RESISTOR IS DISCONNECTED TO THE TERMINAL OF THE
LED.
14. TURN ON THE DC SUPPLY.
15. OBVIOUSLY, THE LED WILL NOT LIGHT UP.
16. TURN ON THE MULTITESTER AND SET IT TO MEASURE CURRENT (AMPERES).
17. CHECK THAT THE PROBES ARE CONNECTED TO THE + (RED) INTERFACE OF THE AMMETER AND
TO THE – (BLACK) INTERFACE OF THE AMMETER.
18. USING THE TIP OF THE PROBES, TAP OR CONNECT ONE PROBE TO OPEN TERMINAL OF THE
RESISTOR AND THE OTHER PROBE TO THE OPEN TERMINAL OF THE LED, AS SHOWN IN THE
PICTURE BELOW.
19. OPEN TERMINAL MEANS THAT THE TERMINAL OF A CIRCUIT ELEMENT IS NOT CONNECTED.
 20. ONCE THE TWO PROBES ARE CONNECTED, YOU WILL NOTICE THAT THE LED WILL LIGHT UP.
AND CURRENT WILL BE MEASURED BY THE MULTI-TESTER.
21. NOTE THAT THE POSITIVE PROBE IS CONNECTED FACING THE POSITIVE SIDE OF THE SOURCE
AND THE NEGATIVE PROBE IS TAPPED/CONNECTED FACING THE NEGATIVE SIDE OF THE DC
SOURCE.
22. GET THE CURRENT READING AND TAKE NOTE OF THE VALUE.
23. REPEAT STEPS 11 TO 22 USING THE 500 OHM AND 1000 OHM RESISTOR.

RESISTOR VALUE (OHMS) MEASURED CURRENT

200 6.176 mA
500 2.562 mA
1000 1.315 mA

OBSERVATIONS:
24. WHAT DID YOU OBSERVE WHEN MEASURING VOLTAGE AND CURRENT?
25. REVERSE THE TAPPING OF THE PROBE, OPPOSING THE PROCEDURE AS GIVEN IN THE ABOVE
PICTURES.
26. WHAT ARE THE RESULTS? WHAT DID YOU NOTICE ON THE VALUES MEASURED WHEN THE
PROBES ARE REVERSED? WHY? EXPLAIN.
27. USING OHM’S LAW, COMPUTE THE VOLTAGE ACROSS THE RESISTOR AND THE CURRENT
FLOWING THROUGH THE CIRCUIT. COMPARE THE COMPUTED VALUES VERSUS THE MEASURED
VALUE. EXPLAIN THE RESULTS.

RESISTOR VALUE MEASURED MEASURED COMPUTED COMPUTED

(OHMS) VOLTAGE CURRENT VOLTAGE CURRENT
200
500
1000

DATA AND RESULTS:

ANALYSIS:
CONCLUSION:
The experiment has shown us on how to learn properly utilization of a basic electrical measuring
devices and be familiar with all of the equipment’s functions to operate it in a safe and controlled
manner. We have determined the characteristics and adequate connection of common electrical
measuring devices and studied its corresponding measurements. Also, when measuring voltages and
currents, the voltmeter must be connected parallelly to the circuit while they should be connected in
series with the circuit element. Practically, all are involved to electrical measurements either the
measurement or detection of electric current. Measuring of electric current can be completed by any
means of the three principal effects of current, fundamentally chemical effect, heating effect, or
magnetic effect. The current sensitivity, voltage sensitivity, and mega ohm sensitivity entails a statement
of electrical conditions necessary to produce a standard deflection.

28. SAVE THE FILE IN THIS FORMAT: GarciaEA_<DOCUMENT FILE NAME>_ANSWER

29. SAVE THE FILE IN PDF FORMAT and WORD DOCS FORMAT.

QUESTIONS/PROBLEMS:
1. LABEL OR SKETCH THE INTERNAL DIAGRAM OF THE FOLLOWING:
A. DC voltmeter

B. DC ammeter
C. Ohmmeter

2. AN ANALOG AMMETER AND VOLTMETER OF SUITABLE RANGES ARE TO BE USED TO MEASURE

THE CURRENT AND VOLTAGE OF AN ELECTRIC LAMP. IF A MISTAKE WAS MADE AND THE
METERS WERE INTERCHANGED, WHAT WILL HAPPEN?

 You break the circuit when you place a voltmeter in series. It will then
measure the potential difference, but there will be no flow of current, and
the device operation will be interrupted.
 You short circuit the device when you place ammeter in parallel. You will
end up burning up the meter, if not, depends if the circuit can provide the
short circuit current and still function or not.

3. WHAT IS THE RELATIVE RESISTANCE OF A GOOD AMMETER? A GOOD VOLTMETER? EXPLAIN

WHY.

 An ideal ammeter is connected in series with circuit to measure current.

After connection it should be such that not to change the original current
flowing. So, it should have low input resistance, ideally zero.

 An ideal or a Good voltmeter should be connected in parallel and it

shouldn't draw any current because to maintain the circuit parameters. So,
it should have high input impedance, ideally infinity

4. SOME TYPES OF FUSES USED TO PROTECT ELECTRIC METERS HAVE RESISTANCES OF SEVERAL
OHMS. IS THIS OBJECTIONABLE IN (a) AMMETER CIRCUITS (b) VOLTMETER CIRCUITS? WHY?
 Fuses are always connected in series with the circuit. Therefore, its'
resistance should be small compared to the resistance of the circuit.
  The circuit of an Ammeter has a much lower resistance than a Voltmeter.
So, the fuse in the Ammeter has a higher current rating. However, the fuse
with the highest current rating has the lowest resistance.

5. HOW DO WE READ THE VALUES OF RESISTORS USING COLOR CODING?

DISCUSS.
 To read them, hold the resistor such that the tolerance band is on your right.
The tolerance band is usually gold or silver in colour and is placed a little
further away from the other bands.
 Starting from your left, note down all the colours of the bands and write them
down in sequence.
 The band just next to the tolerance band is the multiplier band. So if the
colour of this band is Red (representing 2), the value given is 10 2.
Self-Test. Tick the right answer.
1. What is the color code for a 4.7K ohm resistor with 5% tolerance?
a. ☐Yellow-violet-orange-gold
b. ☐Yellow-blue-red-gold
c. ☐Green-violet-red-gold
d. ☒Yellow-violet-red-gold
2. What is the nominal resistance of a resistor with color code brown-green-black-silver?
a. ☐25 ohm
b. ☒15 ohm
c. ☐160 ohm
d. ☐150 ohm
3. What is the color code for a 560K ohm resistor with 10% tolerance?
a. ☐Blue-violet-yellow-silver
b. ☐Green-blue-orange-silver
c. ☒Green-blue-yellow-silver
d. ☐Blue-green-orange-silver
4. What is the nominal resistance of a resistor with color code orange-white-brown?
a. ☒390 ohm
b. ☐39 ohm
c. ☐380 ohm
d. ☐480 ohm
5. What is the color code for a 22 ohm resistor with 20% tolerance?
a. ☐Red-red-brown
b. ☐Orange-orange-black
c. ☒Red-red-black
d. ☐Orange-orange-brown
6. What is the maximum value in the tolerance range of a resistor with color code red-violet-
orange-gold?
a. ☐32.4K ohm
b. ☒28.35K ohm
c. ☐27K ohm
d. ☐29.7K ohm
7. What is the minimum value in the tolerance range of a resistor with color code brown-red-
brown?
a. ☐144 ohm
b. ☐114 ohm
c. ☒96 ohm
d. ☐108 ohm
8. What is the maximum value in the tolerance range of a resistor with color code blue-gray-
green-silver?
a. ☐7.14M ohm
b. ☐6.12M ohm
c. ☒7.48M ohm
 d. ☐8.16M ohm

Show your solutions:

1.

2.

Band colours in order GREE BLAC SILVE

BROWN N K R
Digit representation 1 5 1 ± 10%
Value 15 Ω ±10 %

3.
Band colours in order YELLO SILVE
GREEN BLUE W R
Digit representation 5 6 10,000 ± 10%
Value 560K Ω ±10 %
Band colours in order YELLO VIOLE
W T RED GOLD
4.
Digit representation 4 7 100 ± 5%
Band colours in order
Value ORANG 4.7K Ω ±5 %
E WHITE BROWN  
Digit representation 3 9 10  
Value 390 Ω

5.

Band colours in order RED RED BLACK  

Digit representation 2 2 1  
Value 22 Ω
6.

Band colours in order VIOLE ORANG

RED T E GOLD
Digit representation 2 7 1,000 ± 5%
Value 27K Ω ± 5%

Solution:

27,000 x 0.05 = 1350K Ω

27,000 + 1350 = 28.35 Ω (Maximum value)

7.

Band colours in order BROWN RED BROWN  

Digit representation 1 2 10  
Value 120 Ω ± 20%

Solution:

120 x 0.2 = 24 Ω

120 – 24 = 96 Ω (Minimum value)

8.

Band colours in order SILVE

BLUE GRAY GREEN R
Digit representation 6 8 100,000 ± 10%
Value 6.8M Ω ± 10%

Solution:

6.8M x 0.1= 680K Ω

6.8M + 680K = 7.48M Ω (Maximum value)

DOCUMENTATION/PICTURES OF ACTUAL IMPLEMENTATION:

30. DESCRIPTION OF PICTURE TO PROVE THAT THE VALUES REFLECTED ON THE TABLE ARE THE
ACTUAL VALUES MEASURED DURING IMPLEMENTATION.
31. FILL UP THIS TABLE AND INCLUDE TO YOUR FINAL WRITTEN REPORT.

GROUP NO.
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