Names: Chraizle Ruiz

Denise Verdad
Christian Kelly Bulfa
Arabela Tabernilla
Denise Sayno
Charven Jake Cana

Date Performed: April 19, 2022

Section: Stem 12- B
Teacher: Ms. Laiza Anca

(The contribution of the group members are listed at the bottom part of the last
page)

In this lab you are using PhET Circuit Construction Simulation:

https://phet.colorado.edu/sims/html/circuit-construction-kit-dc-virtu
al- lab/latest/circuit-construction-kit-dc-virtual-lab_en.html

Introduction

Ohm’s Law is a mathematical relationship between voltage,

current and resistance in an electrical circuit.

Ohm’s Law: V = I x R

Here V, is for voltage measured in volts (V), I, is for current measured in

amperes
(A)and R, is for resistance measured in Ohms (Ω).

Part I – Exploring Ohm’s Law using constant

voltage. Procedure

1. Click on url below to open simulation page if you have not already
done so.
https://phet.colorado.edu/sims/html/circuit-construction-kit-dc-virtual-
lab/latest/circuit-construction-kit-dc-virtual-lab_en.html
2. Click and drag circuit components from sides of simulation screen to
get them into work area. To measure current flowing through a circuit
(and all its components) an ammeter must be placed in the circuit,
meaning current flowing through circuit must pass through ammeter
also (see Fig. 1 below). To measure voltage supplied to a circuit
component, voltmeter must be connected across the component (see
Fig. 1 below).

3. Construct on your simulation screen simple series circuit as shown in

Figure 1 below. Click on resistor to change resistance value to a low
number between 3 ohms to 5 ohms for this first run of your experiment.
Figure 1: Circuit (i) for exploring Ohm's Law

4. Select from onscreen to show ’Values’ and any other display

combination you prefer. Keep wire resistivity tiny. Keep battery
resistance at zero.

5. Click on ‘Switch’ to close. Record in Table 1. Below, values for current in

circuit as shown on ammeter and voltage across resistor as shown on
voltmeter.

Table 1: Resistance (R) and Current (I) Measurements

(answered by Chraizle M. Ruiz)
Serial Resistance (R measured in Ω) Current (I measured in A)
1 3 3
2 3.5 2.57
3 4 2.25
4 4.2 2.14
5 4.5 2
6 5 1.80
(simulated by Chraizle M. Ruiz)

6. Open switch and change resistance of resistor. Close switch and record
values. Repeat for seven to eight data points the procedure of changing
resistor’s resistance value and recording in Table 1 above, resistance
and current values after switch are closed.
7. Did you observe that as you increased the value of the resistance
in your circuit your recorded current value was changing? Did your
circuit current increase or decrease in value as you increased
circuit resistance?
8. Plot a graph of resistance R on your Y – axis versus current I, on your X –
axis.
 9. Graph should look like this after you have done your best fit:

Figure 2: Example of graph

(Graph by Chraizle M. Ruiz)

Part II – Series and Parallel
Circuits A – Resistors in series
1. Use the circuit diagram in formation in Figure 3 below to guide you on
how to construct your series circuit and how to connect your voltmeter
to measure voltage across each resistor.

Figure 3: Schematic of series circuits showing voltmeter

connection

2. Reset simulation screen by clicking on orange button in lower right

corner of screen.

3. Let resistor 1, have resistance such that: 2.0 Ω < R1 < 12.0 Ω and
resistor 2 have resistance such that: 20.0 Ω < R2 < 100.0 Ω. Click and
drag circuit components to construct a series circuit as in Fig. 3
schematic. Your series circuit will be like Figure 4, simulation screenshot
seen below.
 Figure 4: Simulation series circuit

4. Record your battery voltage. Record all other data in Table 2 below.
Table 2: Series Circuit Data.

Resistor Resistance. Voltage Current through. Batter

across y
voltage,
VBattery
R1 10 VR1 = 1.8 0.18 9.0
R2 40 VR2 = 7.2 0.18 9.0
R1 + R2 50 VR1 + R2 = 9 0.18 9.0
 5. Is VBattery the same as VR1 + R2? Why is this happening?

● Yes, because when you add resistor 1 and 2 it is equal to Vbattery

therefore they are same.

● Yes, the total voltage in the circuit is equal to the voltage of R1 + R2.
Because there is only one path for current to flow in the circuit, the current
is constant, but the voltage in each resistor varies. Because only these two
components are present in the circuit, the sum of the voltage equals the
total voltage, and the total voltage drop occurs only along these resistors.

● Yes, because in a series circuit, the supply voltage is shared among the
components. The supply voltage is equal to the sum of the voltages across
the series components. The voltages across the components in series are
proportional to their resistances.

6. Replace your resistors in this series circuit by two light bulbs. Turn
on the switch. Observe what happens. Are the light bulbs brightly
 lit? Why?

● Because the resistance in series is increased, the bulbs do not light up

brightly. As the current in the circuit decreases, the brightness of the bulbs
dims. Additionally, because the current in the circuit is constant, the voltage
dropped against both bulbs is the same, resulting in a lower voltage,
lowering the brightness.

● It is plain to see that the bulbs definitely worked in a series circuit. However,
the two bulbs didn't give off that much and equal portion of light as we
expected, for the very reason that in series circuit, the current flows in just
one wire, hence the two light bulbs share and meddle for current flow.
● No, because they are connected in series so the voltage that they are
receiving is not equal.
B - Resistors in parallel.
Resistors in parallel have the same battery voltage across each resistor in
the circuit. This is unlike resistors in series. Additionally, each resistor in a
parallel circuit configuration has its unique value of current passing through
it. The sum of the currents passing through branch of a parallel circuit is
equal to the total current flowing through the circuit.

Figure 5: Schematic for voltage measure across resistors in parallel

Figure 6: Current flow in resistors in parallel

1. Construct your resistors (R1 ≠ R2) in parallel circuit in your simulation.

2. Record data for resistors in parallel circuit in Table
3 below. Table 3: Resistors in parallel Circuit Data
Resistor Voltage Current
across, V Battery
Resistance, through, A
voltage
Ω , VBattery

R1 10 VR1 = 9 1.2 9
R2 30 VR2 = 9 0.9 9
R1 + R2 7.5 VR1 + R2 = 9 0.3 9
3. Use your data to validate the following relationships:

Resistors in series – RTotal = R1 + 2 = R1 + R2

Resistors in parallel – 1/RTotal = 1/R1+2 = 1/R1 +

1/R2

For resistors in parallel, same as: RTotal = R1+2 = (R1 + R2)/(R1R2)

4. Replace your resistors in parallel in your simulation by two light bulbs.

Turn on the switch and observe the light bulbs. Are they brightly lit?
Why?

● Yes , they are brighter. In parallel the voltage is same and current is
varying . So , as the voltage is same among both the bulbs so there
is voltage drop across both is same than the bulbs are brighter as
compared with series circuit.

● Yes, because they are connected in parallel so the voltage that

they are receiving is equal.
5. Which circuit configuration do you think is widely use in homes,
offices and industrial systems? Why?

● In residential, commercial, and industrial settings. The parallel

circuit is used because if one device or implement is
short-circuited, the entire system continues to function. Other
applications are unaffected.
● I think it’s the parallel Circuit because its suitable for our homes.
Contribution to the GroupWork

Table I - Chraizle M. Ruiz and Denise Verdad

Graph- Chraizle M. Ruiz and Denise Verdad

Table II-A- Chraizle M. Ruiz

Question 5- Bullet 1- Arabela Tabernilla

Bullet 2- Chraizle M. Ruiz

Question 6- Bullet 1- Chraizle M. Ruiz

Bullet 2- Christian Kelly Bulfa
Bullet 3- Denise Verdad.
Bullet 4- Charven Jake Cana

Table II-B- Chraizle M. Ruiz

Question 3- Chraizle M. Ruiz

Question 4- Bullet 1- Chraizle M. Ruiz

Bullet 2- Denise Verdad
Bullet 3- Denise Sayno

Question 5- Bullet 1- Chraizle M. Ruiz

Bullet 2- Denise Verdad

Simulation Part I-II- Chraizle M. Ruiz

Simulation Part III- Chraizle M. Ruiz and Denise Verdad