EXPERIMENT NO:06

NAME OF THE EXPERIMENT :

VERIFICATION OF CURRENT DIVIDER RULE

THEORY:
In this experiment the voltage and current division properties will be verified. Voltage and
current division is an application of Kirchhoff’s Laws. A voltage divider, also known as a
potential divider, is a linear circuit that outputs a portion of its input voltage. The partitioning
of a voltage among the components of the ts of the divider is referred to as voltage division.
A current divider is a basic linear circuit that outputs a fraction of the input current. The
splitting of current between the divider's branches is referred to as current division. The
currents in each branch of such a circuit will always be divided in such a way that the overall
energy used is minimised. Slight variances are produced by experimental errors, such as
getting slightly incorrect readings due to fluctuating multimeter values. Voltage and current
division allow us to simplify the task of analyzing a circuit. We can calculate what fraction of
the overall voltage across a series of resistors is lost across any one resistor using voltage
division .

Aim of the Experiment:

To experimentally verify the current divider rule for parallel circuits.

Figure :Current divider circuit

According to Ohm’s law,

I=E/Rtotal; Or, I=E/(R1+R2);

VR1=I.R1
=(E/(R1+R2))R1;

VR2=I*R2
 =(E/(R1+R2)).R2;

Again, in a circuit where two resistances are connected parallel.

V=IR1=IR2;
I=V/Rtotal
=(V*(R1R2))/(R1+R2);

So, I1=R2/(R1+R2) and I2=R1/(R1+R2);

Apparatus:

● Voltage source,
● portable analog/digital trainer board,
● resistors,
● Multimeter,
● jumper wires.

Working Procedure:

Current division:

Unfortunately, we didn’t have the current source present in the lab. So we converted the voltage
source into a current source connecting a 22KΩ resistance parallelly to the 5V voltage source. we will
connect the ammeter in series with only that resistor, then we will be able to see the amount of current
flowing through the resistor.
Observation and Calculation:
Experimentally we got the value of I1=0.19mA and I2= 0.378mA
Theoretically,
I1=V/R1
=10/49000
=0..2040mA

I2=V/R2
=10/26000
=0.3846mA

Now, percentage error =((measured value -true value)/true value)*100%

Error in measuring 𝐼1is = ((0.2040-0.19)/0.2040)*100%

=6.8%

Error in measuring 𝐼2is= ((0..3846-0.378)/0.3846)*100%

=1.71%

Result:
From our experiment we get, 𝐼1= 0.19 mA, 𝐼2= 0.3846 mA and all errors in our experiment were less
than 10%.

Discussion:
While conducting this experiment we chose low voltage to work with. We use a working multimeter
to measure the voltage and the current. When we measure voltage and current, we make sure that no
external wire or our body makes contact with the circuit or the pins in the voltmeter, in that case we
may find an incorrect value. We use a temporary circuit using a breadboard and jumper wires for this
experiment.

Limitations:
In the theoretical values we do not calculate the internal resistance of the wire, breadboard and the
power sources. But in the experimental values we find values with the resistance of the power source,
the multimeter and the wire. As a result we get some errors.