Practice 4: Watt law (DC power)

Objectives:

1. General
 To calculate power with measures of voltages and currents.

2. Specifics
 To verify the current and voltage dividers.
 To measure the power dissipated in a resistive circuit fed with a DC source.
 To verify the theoretical power equations with the practice.

Pre-report (before the practice):

1. To make a theoretical framework for the following concepts:

 Voltage divider.
 Current divider.
 DC power.

2. To implement the circuit in Figure 1 for 4 resistance values. To calculate current, voltage and
power in Table 1. Source between 10V-20V.

Figure 1. Circuit 1.

Calculado Medida en laboratorio

Caso R [Ω]
I [A] V [V] P [W] I [A] V [V] P [W]
1 50 0.26 13 3.38
2 80 0.1875 15 2.8125
3 70 0.28 20 5.6
4 90 0.11 10 1.11

3. To implement the circuit in Figure 2 for 4 resistance values. To calculate current, voltage and
power in Table 2 where “It” is the source current. Source between 10V-20V.
 Figure 2. Circuit 2.

Table 2. Results circuit 2.

Calculated
Case
R1 [Ω] R2 [Ω] It [A] I1 [A] I2 [A] Pt [W] P1 [W] P2 [W]
1
2
3
4

Measured
Case
R1 [Ω] R2 [Ω] It [A] I1 [A] I2 [A] Pt [W] P1 [W] P2 [W]
1
2
3
4

4. To implement the circuit in Figure 3 for 4 resistance values. To calculate current, voltage and
power in Table 3 where “Vt” is the source voltage. Source between 10V-20V.

Figure 3. Circuit 3.
 Tabla 3. Results circuit 3.
Calculated
Case
R1 [Ω] R2 [Ω] Vt [A] V1 [A] V2 [A] Pt [W] P1 [W] P2 [W]
1
2
3
4

Measured
Case
R1 [Ω] R2 [Ω] Vt [A] V1 [A] V2 [A] Pt [W] P1 [W] P2 [W]
1
2
3
4

To verify that variables are between the safe operation range of the source and resistances.

5. To make a list with all necessary elements for implement the circuits in the practice.

Procedure in the practice:

To implement the proposed circuits considering the equipment (sources, resistances and
measurement instruments) operation limits. Then, finish the tables with calculations with the data
from measurements.

Report (after the practice):

The report includes calculations, measurements, graphics (example in Figure 4) and photos
presented in clear form with the information organized and clean.
1
Señal de Voltaje Vp=1, F=220Hz

0.5
Voltaje[v]

-0.5

-1
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14

Tiempo[ms]
Figure 4. Example voltage sine signal: Vp=1 V, F=220 Hz.

To answer the following questions:

 i. To explain with your words how operate the multimeter to take resistance,
voltage and current measurements in dc circuits.
ii. Are the circuit laws satisfied?
iii. Why are the calculations and measurements not exactly the same?
iv. Why is important to know the power in a electrical circuit?