CHITTAGONG UNIVERSITY OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY

DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONIC ENGINEERING,

CHITTAGONG-4349, BANGLADESH.
COURSE NO.: EEE 112

Experiment No. 1

Familiarization with the Current, Voltage and Power Measuring Instruments, and the
Verification of Ohm’s Law.

Instructions:
 Revise the lecture notes on the topic Ohm’s law (Course code: EEE 111)
 Read this laboratory manual carefully prior to start the laboratory class.
 DO NOT copy others.
 Submit your lab report before the roll call.
Objectives:
(a) Familiarization with the measuring instruments Ammeter, Voltmeter and Wattmeter.
(b) Experimental verification of the Ohm’s law.

Required instruments: Ammeter, Voltmeter, Wattmeter, Ohmmeter/multimeter, Resistors,

Variable DC power supply, Connecting wires (jumper wires), Breadboard.
Objective-(a):
Ammeter: An ammeter is a device for measuring the electric current flowing through a wire
or a circuit in closed condition. The name “Ammeter” comes from the contraction of ‘ampere-
meter’. An ammeter is always connected in series with the element in experiment. Since the
current flowing through the circuit components in series is the same, the current indicated by
the ammeter is also the current flowing through the component. An ammeter is designed with
a very low resistance and also with low inductive reactance targeting to achieve a low voltage
drop across the ammeter. This is because the high voltage drop across the ammeter may disturbs
the circuit into which it is plugged in, and this voltage drop may change the measuring currents
of the ammeter. In ideal cases, an ammeter should have zero resistance, however, it is
impossible to achieve in reality. To extend the range of the ammeter, we must place resistance

1
Prepared by Dr. Joyprokash Chakrabartty
in parallel or shunt with the meter, creating a current path around the meter for the excess
current. Figure 1 illustrates the connection diagram of an ammeter in the circuit.

Fig. 1 Schematics of an ammeter connected in the circuit.

Voltmeter: A voltmeter is a device for measuring the potential difference (the voltage)
between two wires, usually across a circuit element or a group of elements. A voltmeter is
always connected in parallel to the component in a circuit for which the voltage is to be
measured. The voltmeter possesses a very high resistance which permits to flow low values of
current though the voltmeter. This is because the high current may disturbs the circuit into
which it is plugged in, and may change the measuring voltages of the voltmeter. The voltage
to be measured using voltmeter could be AC or DC. A DC voltmeter has polarity signs on it.
The connection scenario is as follows: The plus (+) terminal to the higher point of the potential,
and the minus (-) terminal to the lower point of potential. In an AC voltmeter, there is no
polarity signs on it and can be connected in anyways. However, the voltmeter is still connected
in parallel to the component for which the voltage is to be measured. Figure 2 illustrates the
connection diagram of a voltmeter in the circuit.

Fig. 2 Schematic of a voltmeter connected in the circuit.

Wattmeter: A wattmeter is an electrical instrument which is used to measure the electric

2
Prepared by Dr. Joyprokash Chakrabartty
power (in watts) of any electrical circuit. A wattmeter consists of two coils: one is connected
in series and the other is connected in parallel. The coil connected in series is known as the
current coil (c.c.) and the coil connected in parallel is known as the voltage coil or the potential
coil (p.c.). When the wattmeter is connected with the source, the current passes through the
current coil which results in an electromagnetic field formation around the coil. The field
strength is proportional to the current flowing through the current coil. The voltage is dropped
across the potential coil which actually moves the needle across the scale. In case of DC power
measurement, the electromagnetic field and the current though the current coil lies in the same
phase and the power is calculated by the following equation, P=VI where V and I represents
the voltage drop across the p.c. and the current flowing through the c.c. respectfully. In case of
AC power, the wattmeter simply measures the average power. Figure 3 illustrates the
connection diagram of a wattmeter in the circuit.

Fig. 3 Schematics of a wattmeter connected in the circuit.

Objective-(b):
Ohm’s law: At constant temperature, the electric current (I) passing through
a conductor is directly proportional to the potential difference (V) across it. In another word,
at constant temperature, the electrical potential difference between two points on a circuit is
equivalent to the product of the total resistance (R) of all electrical devices present between
those two points and the current flows through that resistance. The relationship can be
expressed by the following mathematical form:
Voltage
𝐶𝑢𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡 =
𝑅𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒
V
or, 𝐼 =𝑅

Circuit diagram:

3
Prepared by Dr. Joyprokash Chakrabartty
 V

Fig. 4 Circuit diagram for the verification of Ohm’s law.

Steps to follow:
(I) Connect a known resistor (Ex. 1 kΩ) with the electrical components in series circuit
configuration as depicted in Fig. 4. Please note that you must connect the ammeter
in series and the voltmeter in parallel as illustrates in Fig. 4. Also, you should check
the power rating of your selected resistor so that you can avoid the overheating of
the resistor while applying electrical potential to the circuit.
(II) Verify the connection with your lab instructor before you proceed.
(III) Initially set the VDC supply to 0 V and record the current on ammeter.
(IV) Increase the voltage to 1 V, observe the ammeter and note the readings.
(V) Repeat the above step for 2 V, 3V … 10 V.
(VI) Plot a graph (voltage vs current) for measured readings. Determine the slope of
the plot.
(VII) Compare the plot with theoretical calculations.

Report:
(I) Provide the results in tabular form.
(II) Comment on the results and anomalies (if any).
Home Task:
Include the answers of the following questions in your lab report –
1. Is it possible to increase the current measuring range of an ammeter? Can we connect
an ammeter in parallel with the circuit element to be measured?
2. Is it possible to measure the AC current by using the DC ammeter?
3. Is it possible to increase the voltage measuring range of a voltmeter?
4. Describe in brief the working principle of an Ohmmeter?
5. What is a variable DC power supply?
6. What do you mean by the term ‘jumper wires’?
7. A voltmeter reads 80 volts when connected in parallel with an unknown resistor that
has 0.125 amperes flowing through it. What is the resistance of the unknown resistor?

4
Prepared by Dr. Joyprokash Chakrabartty