Section A 1 ACTIVITIES

ACTIVITY A5
AIM

steady Current,
study the variation in potential drop with length of a wire for
a
1o

APPARATUSAND MATERIAL REQUIRED

ammeter (0-3A),
voltmeter (0-3 V), an
Apotentiometer, a battery ofthree drycells/battery eliminator,
a
of sand paper.
plug key, jacket, a low resistance rheostat, connecting wires and a piece

THEORY wire of uniform area

constant current flows through
a
ApOtentOmeter works on the principle that if a wire is directiy
V across any lengthlof the
otcross-section and composition, then the potential drop
proportional to the length I.

V ocl or V=kl or k=-

Here k is the potential drop per unit length and is called potential gradient.

CIRCUITDIAGRAM
T00
0

Battery 200

300

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Fig. 10 Circuit to study variation in potential drop with length.

PROCEDURE
1. Draw a neat circuit diagram as shown in Fig. 10 and arrange the required apparatus accordingly on
the working table.
2. Connect the positive terminal of the battery to the end A (zero length) of the potentiometer wire
and negative terminal to the end B (400 cm length), through a plug key K, ammeter A and low
resistance rheostat Rh.
3 Now connect the positive terminal of voltmeter V to the end A of the potentiometer wire and its

negative terminal to the jockey which can slide along the wire AB.
4. Note that the pointer of the voltmeter is at the zero mark when no current is passing through it. If it
is not so, adjust its pointer with the help of zero adjustment screw provided on its front panel.

5. Insert the plug in the key K and press the jockey at the extreme end B of the potentiometer wire.
Adjust the sliding contact of the rheostat so that voltmeter shows full scale deflection.
6. Now press the jockey at point A, the voltmeter will show zero deflection.
7. Now press the jockey at 40 cm (from end ) and note the corresponding reading.

105
 LAB MANUAL PHYSICS-XII

80 cm,
120 cm, 160 cm, . . . .
400
400
cm from the
distances end
Now make
contacts of the jockey at that the ammeter
See that reading remains
A
8.
i n each
case.
constant
potential drop
form.
and note the in a
tabular
observations
Record all your observation.
throughout.
each
9.Calculate potential gradient
k =V/l for

OBSERVATIONS AND CALCULATIONS

to
Range of the
voltmeter =0
voltmeter
Least count of the
ammeter
= 0 to0
Range of the
ammeter =.
Least count of the

current in the
ammeter
=
Steady
in potential drop
with length
Variation
Table A9 :

Voltmeter readingV
Potential gradient k
potentiometer wire
l
Length of (V) (Vcm)
S.No. (Cm)

40

80
ASDA
120

5. 160
200
240
280
320
10. 360

11 400

Mean value of k =. V cm

Graph of Vos.
PLOTTINGGRAPH
Choosing suitable scales, plot
a graph of V versus I, with V
along Y-axis and I along X-axis.
A straight line graph is
obtained as shown in Fig. 11.

Potential gradient
Slope of VI graph
Scale:
X axis: 1 cm=40 cm
V cm Yaxis: 1 cm = 0.5 V

360
40 80 120 160 200 240 280 320
Length of potentiometer wire, (cm)

l.
Fig. 11 Variation of potential drop V with length
106
 Section A ACTIVITIES

RESULT
1. witnln the limits of experimental error, the ratioV/lis found to be constant. This shows that v

Mean value of k == V cm
2. V vs. graph is straight line which
again shows that V ocl.
Value of potential gradient from the graph, k= V cm

PRECAUTIONS

1. All connections should be neat, clean and

tight.
2ne poSitive terminal of the auxiliary battery should be connected to the end Aof the potentiometer
wire.

3 uing experimentation, the current passing through the potentiometer wire must remain constant.
nis
be
can be ensured by using an ammeter in the auxiliary circuit. If the current changes, it should
readjusted
with the help of the low resistance rheostat.
4.
Lero error, if any, in the voltmeter and ammeter should be eliminated by adjust the screw provided
at the front
panel
5. The current in the auxiliary circuit should be
passed only for the duration it is essential for taking
the observations. This prevents unnecessary heating and the
consequent change of resistance or tn
potentiometer wire.
6. Do not drag the jockey along the wire while moving it from one point to another. It should be
pressed gently at different positions of the wire.

SoURCES OF ERROR
1. The area of cross-section of the
potentiometer wire may not be uniform.
2. The resistance of the
potentiometer wire may change due to heating
3. Voltmeter readings may not be accurate.