Al-Furat Al-Awsat Technical University Electric Circuits Lab

Technical Engineering Collage / Najaf

Communication Techniques Dept.
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EXP. NO. 1: Ohm’s Law

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1. Devices and components:
• Devices needed in this experiment:
1. DC power supply 2. Multimeter 3. Breadboard or the multipurpose board

• Circuit components needed in this experiment: Resistors (fixed and variable).

• Other needed elements: Connecting wires.

2. Theoretical background:
• Ohm’s law states that “the voltage, 𝑣, across a resistor, 𝑅, is directly proportional to the current, 𝑖,
flowing through the resistor.”
• Mathematically, Ohm’s law means the following:

𝑣
𝑣 = 𝑖𝑅 OR, 𝑅=
𝑖

3. Circuit diagram:

A
Al-Furat Al-Awsat Technical University Electric Circuits Lab
Technical Engineering Collage / Najaf
Communication Techniques Dept.
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4. Procedure:
Connect the circuit above and perform the following experiments:

Part I:
a. Fix the resistor at 𝑅 = 1K.
b. Vary the voltage (from the DC power supply) and write the readings of the ammeter. Use the
following table:

Voltage, 𝒗 Current, 𝒊: practical Current, 𝒊: theoretical

2V
4V
6V
8V
10 V

c. Plot voltage vs. current.

Part II:
a. Fix the voltage at 𝑣 = 12V.
b. Vary the resistance and write the readings of the ammeter. Use the following table:

Resistance, 𝑹 Current, 𝒊: practical Current, 𝒊: theoretical

1K
10 K
50 K
100 K
200 K

c. Plot resistance vs. current.

𝑅
Al-Furat Al-Awsat Technical University Electric Circuits Lab
Technical Engineering Collage / Najaf
Communication Techniques Dept.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

5. Discussion:
Q1/ From the results you obtained above, are there any differences between practical and theoretical
measurements? If yes, explain why.
Q2/ What is the type of relationship between voltage and current (i.e., is it linear or nonlinear)? (use the
plot you obtained in Part I of the experiment). Justify your answer.
Q3/ What is the type of relationship between resistance and current (i.e., is it linear or nonlinear)? (use the
plot you obtained in Part II of the experiment). Justify your answer.
Q4/ [Bonus point] Re-draw the previous two plots using Matlab or Octave. Use a wider range of values.
For example, use 𝑣 between 1 V and 10 V with steps of 1 V, and use 𝑅 between 1K and 500 K with steps
of 10 K.
Use the following MATLAB for to get the plot in Part I:

R = 1000;
v = 1:1:10;
i = v./R;

figure (1); plot(v,i./1e-3,'-*')

grid on

xlabel('Voltage (V)')
ylabel('Current (mA)')

title('Ohm law: voltage vs. current')

Now do a similar thing to get the plot in Part II of the experiment.