Lap report 6

Physics II
Ahmed Abdullah Buali
2200002406
Section: L-03
 Experiment 6: Kirchhoff’s Rules
EQUIPMENT NEEDED:
AC/DC Electronics Lab Board: Resistors, Wire Leads, (2) D-cell Batteries, Digital
Multimeter (DMM).

The purpose of experiment:

The purpose of this lab will be to experimentally demonstrate Kirchhoff’s Rules
for electrical circuits.

Theoretical background:
Many complex circuits, such as the one in Figure 1, cannot be analysed with
the series-parallel techniques developed in Resistors in Series and Parallel.
There are, however, two circuit analysis rules that can be used to analyse any
circuit, simple or complex. These rules are special cases of the laws of
conservation of charge and conservation of energy. The rules are known as
Kirchhoff’s rules, after their inventor Gustav Kirchhoff (1824–1887).

Figure 1

Gustav Kirchhoff laws:

 Data analysis procedure:
• First of all, connect the circuit as shown in figure 2 using any of the
resistors you have except the 10 W one.

• Second, record the resistance values.

• After that, with no current flowing (the battery disconnected),

measure the total resistance of the circuit.

• Then, with the circuit connected to the battery and the current
flowing, measure the voltage across each of the resistors and record
the values.

• Now, measure the current through each of the resistors. Interrupt the
circuit and place the DMM in series to obtain your reading.

• Finally, we will calculate the % error between the measured current and
the calculated from Kirchhoff law using this formula

𝐵𝑖𝑔 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒 − 𝑆𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒

× 100.
𝐵𝑖𝑔 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒

Figure 2
 R Colour Resistance By Measured % Error
Code Resistance
Ω Ω
𝑹𝟏 Green, blue, 56±5% Ω 55 Ω 2%
black and gold
𝑹𝟐 Brown, red, 120 ± 5% Ω 117 Ω 2.5%
brown and
gold
𝑹𝟑 Orange, 330 ± 5% Ω 324 Ω 2%
orange,
brown and
gold

Table 1

Resistor Number Voltage (V)

𝑹𝟏 1V
𝑹𝟐 1.5 V
𝑹𝟑 1.5 V

Table 2

Resistor Number Measured Calculated %Error

Current (I) Current (I)
𝑹𝟏 0.019 A 0.0191 A 0.5%

𝑹𝟐 0.0051 A 0.005 A 2%

𝑹𝟑 0.0139 A 0.0140 A 0.1%

Table 3
Questions:
Q.1 Use your experimental results to analyse the circuit you built in terms of
Kirchhoff’s Rules. Be specific and state the evidence for your conclusions

The sum of currents entering a node is equal to the sum of currents leaving the
same node I =I so the net flow of electrical current into or out of a node is zero
as indicated by Kirchhoff's Current law.
𝐼1 = 𝐼2 + 𝐼3

19mA=13.9mA+5.1mA.

The sum of all the voltage drops around the loop is equal to zero as stated by
Kirchhoff's Voltage law.
𝑉𝑏 = 𝑉1 + 𝑉2 .
2.7 = 2.2 + 0.5.

Conclusion:
At the end of the experiment, we where able to demonstrate Kirchhoff’s laws
and how they work. Also, we were able to calculate the voltage and current
experimentally and theoretically and calculate the %error between them.