Year 9 Science CAT Lab Report

Introduction
Ohms Law is the relationship between current, voltage and resistance. Current is the rate that a
charge crosses a point on a circuit. Voltage is the pressure from an electrical circuit’s power source
that pushes the current through a circuit, enabling them to achieve a desired outcome. Resistance is
the force stopping the flow of charge through a circuit. The amount of stable current through a
circuit is directly proportional to voltage. Thus, if voltage is multiplied then the current also
multiplies. The quotient V/I remains constant. The quotient V/I for a given circuit is called its
resistance, R, which is measured in units called Ohms. The resistance that Ohm’s law is valid does
not change over large ranges of voltage and current. Ohms law is expressed in the equation R=V/I.
The resistance, ration of voltage to current, when a part of a circuit at a fixed temperature is
generally constant was established in 1827 as a result of the investigations of the German physicist
Georg Simon Ohm. Ohmic conductors are electrical conductors that follow Ohms law. This means
there is a linear relationship between voltage and current for all values. Non-Ohmic conductors are
electrical conductors that do not follow Ohms law. This means the relationship between voltage and
current is not linear for all values.

Aim
The aim of the experiment is to see how to form of resistance (light bulb or fixed resistor) affects the
voltage and current.

Hypothesis
If the form of resistance is changed then the voltage and current will change.

Variables
The dependent variables in the experiment are the current and the voltage. The independent
variable is the form of resistance. The controlled variables are the supply voltage, which stays at 8
volts, the resistor which stays at 10 Ohms, same multi meter, the same light bulb and the variable
resistor.

Equipment
 Power Pack
 Variable Resistor
 Resistor
 Light Bulb
 Multi Meter
 Wire

Method
1. Plug power pack into wall and plug the wires into A.C. Turn the volts to 8 volts.
2. The current will move into the variable resistor and into the coils.
3. The current will then go into the multi meter, you will be able to read the voltage and
current.
4. The current then goes into the fixed resistor, make sure this is set to 10 Ohms.
 5. Similarly the current will go into the light bulb, it will turn on and heat up.

Results Table
The current and voltage measured for the light bulb and fixed resistor
Voltage Graph
Current Graph
Analysis
In both light bulb parts of the experiment, we saw a consistent incline and linear relationship with
the current and the voltage. The plots could be joined up by a straight line. When the block atop of
the variable resistor was steadily moved and made the current go around less coils, the current
steadily increased. The same thing happened with the voltage. As the resistance steadily decreased
the voltage steadily increased too. With the fixed resistor experiments there was also steady
increase in both voltage and current when the resistance is lowered. There was the possibility that
someone may not be able to get the variable resistor into the right spot to get the current and
voltage that is desired. Overall, the experiment ran smoothly with obvious trends.

Evaluation
There were not many evident errors in the experiment, although the light bulb can heat up and the
voltage may fluctuate. This however did not seem to affect the statistics and the trend was not
affected. If the experiment was to be done again the and the conditions were not changed the
results would stay the same as the method was easy to follow and had little opportunity for error.

Conclusion
The experiment supported the hypothesis and a change in the current and voltage was seen when
the fixed resistor was switched for the light bulb. We saw that the voltage and current had linear
relations with the resistance and it was easy to interpret patterns the results.

References
Ohm’s law | physics | Britannica

What is Voltage? | Fluke

Physics Tutorial: Electrical Resistance (physicsclassroom.com)

Ohmic & Non-Ohmic Conductors » Electronics Notes (electronics-notes.com)