PHYSICS FOR ENGINEERS 1 LABORATORY ACTIVITY 7

RESISTANCE OF A WIRE

I. ACTIVITY LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of the activity, you should be able:

a. To determine the effect of the wire’s material, length, and cross-sectional area on its
electrical resistance.
b. To determine the resistivity of the wire.

II. MATERIALS

1 layout plug-in board

2 jumper plugs
1 wire winding board
2 clamping plugs
1 crocodile clip
1 toggle switch
1 chrome-nickel wire, 0.25mmϕ,204 cm long
1 chrome-nickel wire, 0.35mmϕ,204 cm long
1 constantan wire, 0.35mmϕ,204 cm long
3 leads, red, 25cm
3 leads, blue, 25cm
1 lead, red, 50cm
1 lead, blue, 50cm
1 voltage source, 12 V
1 ammeter

III. PROCEDURE

1. Wind the ϕ 0.25mm chrome-nickel wire onto the winding board. Set the winding board
using the clamping plugs. Use the screws to clamp each end firmly.
2. Build the circuit shown in Figure 7.1. Make sure to connect the positive and negative
terminals correctly and set the measuring ranges on the measuring instruments properly.
The switch should only be closed when a measurement is being made.
3. Select voltage level 1 (ca, 3V). Close the switch.
4. Tap the 6th winding using an alligator clip while bypassing the remaining 19 windings.
The length of the wire in each winding is 8cm.
5. Measure the voltage V and current I and record the measurements in Table 7.1
6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 for the 12th and 18th windings.
7. Remove the bypass lead from the circuit. Measure the voltage V and current I for 2 m (25
windings). Using Ohm’s Law, compute the resistance of the wire.
8. Plot the Resistance versus Length points.
9. Switch off the power supply and open the toggle switch.
10. Wind the ϕ 0.35 mm chrome-nickel wire onto the winding board, clamp the ends firmly
using the screws and fit the board back into the circuit.
11. Measure the voltage V and current I for 0.20 m (25 windings). Record in Table 7.2.
12. Replace the ϕ 0.35 mm chrome-nickel wire onto the winding board with the ϕ 0.35 mm
constantan and measure the voltage V and current I for 0.20 m (25 windings). Record in
Table 7.3.
13. Refer to the data in Table 7.3 and compute the resistivity of the chrome-nickel and
constantan wires using the equation:

A
ρ=R
L
where R = resistance of the wire
A= cross sectional area

Activity 07 _ Resistance of a Wire Page 1

 L= length of the wire

14. Record the computed value as the experimental resistivity ρexp in Table 7.3.
15. Compute the percentage error using the equation:

ρtheo −ρexp
% error= x 100
ρtheo

IV. DATA AND RESULTS

TABLE 7.1 Resistance of 0.25mm Chrome Nickel Wire

Number of Length of the
Voltage V (V) Current I (A) Resistance R (Ω)
Windings Wire
6 48 cm
12
18
25

TABLE 7.2 Resistance of 200 cm Chrome Nickel Wire

Diameter Voltage V (V) Current I (A) Resistance R (Ω)
0.25mm
0.35mm

TABLE 7.3 Resistance and Resistivity of Different Wires of 200 cm Length

Theoretical Experimenta
Voltage V Current I Resistance R Resistivity l
Material ρtheo % Error
(V) (A) (Ω) Resistivity
ρexp
Chrome Nickel ϕ
150 x10-8 Ω m
0.35mm
Constantan ϕ
49 x10-8 Ω m
0.35mm

Resistance Versus Length

Activity 07 _ Resistance of a Wire Page 2

 V. GUIDE QUESTIONS FOR ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION

1. How does the resistance of a wire depend on its length?

2. How does the resistance of a wire depend on its diameter?
3. Does the resistance of a wire depend on the material from which it is made?
4. A wire diameter of 0.35mm means that the wire’s cross-sectional area is twice as large as that
of a wire with a diameter of 0.25 mm. How does the resistance of the wire change if its cross-
sectional area doubles?

VI. CONCLUSION

VII. CREDITS

Created by: MPS Laboratory Committee

Version: 1.0
Modified: October 2018

VIII. REFERENCES

HyperPhysics (2010). Electricity and Magnetism. Resistivity and Conductivity, Retrieved

May 16, 2011 from http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu
University of Colorado (2011) Interactive Simulations. Resistance of a wire. Retrieved
May16, 2011 from http://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulation/resistance-in-a-wire.
Giancoli, Douglas C. (2001). Physics 5th Edition. Pearson Education, Asia Pte Ltd.
Young, Hugh D. and Freedman, Roger A. (2010). Sear’s and Zemansky’s University Physics
12th Edition. United States of America: Addison Wesley Longman, Inc.

Activity 07 _ Resistance of a Wire Page 3