Fakultät für Physik und Geowissenschaften

Physikalisches Grundpraktikum

E 2e „ Characteristics of Electrical Resistances “

Tasks

1. The voltage (U) -current (I) characteristics of a metallic resistance (electric light bulb), a thermistor
and a varistor are measured and plotted. Calculate the static and differential resistances of these
three circuit elements and plot these as a function of the electrical current. Discuss the meaning of
the static and the differential resistances. Determine the control coefficient *of the varistor.

2. Measure the temperature dependence of a semiconductor resistance, a metallic resistance and a

PTC resistor. Plot the resistances as a function of temperature and discuss the physical mechanisms
leading to the various temperature dependences. Determine the activation energy EA of the
semiconductor resistance from an appropriate graphical representation (lnR vs. 1/T diagram).
Determine further the temperature coefficient of the metallic resistance and the coefficient PTC of
the PTC resistor.

Literature

Physics, P. A. Tipler, 3rd Edition, Vol. 2, Chap. 22-1, 22-2, 23-1, 23-3
Physikalisches Praktikum, Hrsg. W. Schenk, F. Kremer, 13th Edition, Electricity, Chap. 1.0.1, 1.1, 1.2
University Physics, H. Benson, Revised Edition, Chap. 27, 28.2, 28.3

Instruments and accessories

laboratory power supply, digital multimeters, electrical resistances, thermostat

Keywords for preparation

- Kirchhoff’s rules
- current-voltage measurements
- Ohm’s law, ohmic resistance
- resistance measurements
- current-voltage-, resistance-current- and resistance-temperature characteristics of various
materials (metals, semiconductors)

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Remarks

In task 1 the current-voltage characteristics should be measured up to the maximum current

specified in the lab handout. The measurements are partially computerized; before starting the
experiment you will be instructed in the use of the software UILab (see below).
The control coefficient *of the varistor (voltage dependent resistor) – defined by the power law U
I* –should be determined from a double logarithmic plot, logU vs. logI.
In task 2 the resistors to be studied are immersed in the oil bath of a thermostat. You will receive
brief instructions on the handling of the thermostat. The temperature dependent resistances should
be measured for various temperatures. The temperature dependence of the electrical resistance of a
semiconductor can – in a limited temperature range – be described by an exponential law of the
form R(T)=R0 exp(EA/kBT). Here R0 is a temperature independent prefactor with the unit of electrical
resistance, T is the absolute temperature, kB Boltzmann’s constant and EA the activation energy. The
latter is a measure for the energy that must be supplied to a semiconductor such that its charge
carriers can contribute to electrical conduction. The activation energy should be specified in the unit
eV.

PTC resistors are a specific type of circuit elements. These are fabricated on the basis of
semiconductor ceramics (doped Barium titanate). At the grain boundaries back-to-back pn-junctions
form that are strongly modified by the ferroelectric properties of the material. During the transition
from the ferroelectric to the paraelectric state the carrier transport properties of the grain
boundaries change significantly leading to a strong increase in the resistance (by several orders of
magnitude during a temperature change of about 100 K).
The most important characteristics of PTCs are the minimum (Rmin) and the maximum resistance
(Rmax), the base temperature TB (RB = R(TB) = 2 Rmin) as well as the temperature coefficient PTC.

In the temperature region between TB and Tmax the

resistance increase can be approximated by an
exponential function of the form
R(T )  RB exp  PTC (T  TB )

from which the temperature coefficient PTC can be

determined.

Fig. 1
Temperature dependence of a PTC resistor (schematic)

PTCs are mainly used in electric and electronic circuits for current limiting (overload protection), for
temperature measurement as well as for protection against high temperatures.

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The maximal current ratings of the circuit elements must not be exceeded, since otherwise thermal
destruction might occur:

Table 1. Electronic symbols. NTC (negative temperature coefficient), PTC (positive temperature
coefficient), VDR (voltage dependent resistor). The first arrow refers to the control variable, the
second specifies the direction of the resistance change.

component graphical symbol Imax (mA) reference temperature TB (K)

light bulb 150

varistor (VDR) 15

PTC-thermistor 20 273,15

NTC-thermistor 15

Table 2. Measurement uncertainties Agilent 34405A

Function Range Measurement Input Uncertainty
current or impedance (% measurement value +
voltage-drop % range)
Voltage (DC) 100.000 mV - 10.0 MΩ ±2% 0.025+0.008
1.00000 V - 10.0 MΩ ±2% 0.025+0.006
10.0000 V - 10.1 MΩ ±2% 0.025+0.005
100.000 V - 10.1 MΩ ±2% 0.025+0.005
1000.00 V - 10.0 MΩ ±2% 0.025+0.005
Resistance 100.000 Ω 1.0 mA - 0.05+0.008
1.00000 kΩ 0.83 mA - 0.05+0.005
10.0000 kΩ 100 μA - 0.05+0.006
100.000 kΩ 10.0 μA - 0.05+0.007
1.00000 MΩ 900 nA - 0.06+0.007
10.0000 MΩ 205 nA - 0.25+0.005
100.000 MΩ 205 nA||10 MΩ - 2.00+0.005
Current (DC) 10.0000 mA < 0.2 V 0.05+0.015
100.000 mA < 0.2 V 0.05+0.005
1.00000 A < 0.5 V 0.20+0.007
10.0000 A < 0.6 V 0.25+0.007

Table 3:Measurement uncertainties Tektronix PWS4323

Resolution Uncertainty
Voltage 1 mV ± 0,02%
Current 0.1 mA ± 0,05%

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Fig 2: UILab GUI

The software UILab was developed in order to measure U-I curves as well as the temperature
dependence of electronic devices largely automatically.
In a U-I measurement a current is set and both current and voltage are repeatedly measured. The
sample resistance R = U/I and its standard deviation are calculated; if the relative standard deviation
of the sample resistance decreases below a given limit (which usually happens in thermal
equilibrium), the average values of current and voltage are stored and the program continues with
the next current value.
The measurement of the temperature dependence is done manually.

U-I measurement
Settings

Imin : minimum current

Imax : maximum current
Current might be varied either linearly (In+1= In + DI ) or logarithmically (In+1= m In ) with multiplication
factor m.
DI: linear current step or multiplication factor. Changing the linear step or the multiplication factor
leads to a re-adjustment of the maximum current value (Imax, new ≤ Imax).
SPA:. Samples Per Average, number of single measurements used for averaging and calculation of
the standard deviation
(s(R)/R)max : upper limit of the relative standard deviation of the sample resistance
Nmax : maximum number of loops, in which (s(R)/R) ≤ (s(R)/R)max is probed. At the end of the loop the
average values of current and voltage are stored.