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Lab#:

Date: 9/10/23

Title:

Problem: Mr. Oats and his students were arguing whether temperature increases or
decreases the resistance of a conductors.

Hypothesis: As temperature increase the kinetic energy within a substance increases.This

causes the molecules within the substance to collide more frequently thereby
generating more electrical resistance.

Aim: To investigate the change in electrical resistance as the temperature of a

conductor increases.

Apparatus/ Materials: PVC pipe 300mm (l) Insulation tape Tripod

Thermometer Multi-meter Tripod stand
Battery case Ammeter Gylcerol
3 1.5V batteries Bunsen burner Water bath
0.05mm diameter Cu wire Boiling tube Nichrome wire
3 jumper wires w/ crocodile clips Al wire

Procedure:
1. Wind the wire around the PVC pipe. Ensure the ends of the wire are fixed to
the pipe using the insulation tape.
2. Use a plastic knife to remove about 3 cm of the insulation from the wire.
3. Set up the water bath. Ensure to put enough gylcerol in th boiling tube to
cover the the wire coil inside the boiling tube.
4. Measure the resistance of the wire using a ohmmeter function on the multi-
meter.
5. Connect 3 batteries in series to produce 4.5V.
6. Connect the ammeter, battery and wire coil to the as shown in the diagram
of apparatus using the jumper wires.
7. Measure and record the initial current reading using the ammeter.
8. Measure the temperature using the thermometer.
9. Record the ammeter reading at 10℃ intervals.
10. Disconnect the circuit and measure the resistance of the wire immediately.
11. Repeat 6-9 at 10℃ intervals until the highest temperature is reached and
record the measurements in the table below.

Circuit Diagram of Set up of Apparatus

Diagram of Apparatus:
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Variables:
Controlled: Applied voltage
Length of wire
Cross sectional area of the wire

Manipulated: Temperature of the wire

Resistance of the wire

Responding:

Table showing the Results of the Experiment

Data Collection and
Treatment: Temperatur Voltage Curren Actual
e (V) t Resistance
(℃) (A) ( )
Intiial:

1. Plot a graph of resistance against temperature.

Graph showing the Effect of Temperature on the Resistance of an Electric

Conductor ( Copper Wire)
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Conclusion: Answer the aim. Make sure to reference the shape of the graph plotted.

Reflection: 1. State the importance of knowing the effect of temperature of electrical

conductors.
2. State how this lab could be applied in the real world.
3. State how the lab could be improved.

Sources of Error/ 1. Heat the water bath slowly to maintain thermal equilibrium between the
Precautions: water and the glycerol and coil.
2. When the heat is removed wait until the temperature is steady before
taking resistance readings.
3. Use glycerol in the test tube since it is a better conductor of heat than
water.

Limitations: 1. The experiment may not cover a wide enough temperature range to
capture the full behavior of the conductor's resistance. This experiment
focuses on temperature above 0℃ as such the reaction of the conductor to
sub -zero temperature is still unknown.
2. Variations in environmental conditions (e.g., humidity, and changes in the
weather) can influence the results but may not be fully controlled in a
typical laboratory setting.
3. The accuracy of the instruments used (e.g., ammeters, voltmeters,
thermometers) can affect the precision of the measurements, and these
instruments may have limitations that affect their performance at extreme
temperatures.