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EXPERIMENT :
NO 5

TITLE : i. DC Circuits

DATE OF :
EXPERIMENT

Applied Physics Lab Page 1 Experiment # 5

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Introduction

Electrical devices have revolutionized society, transforming how we work, spend our
leisure time, and communicate. In this lab you will investigate properties of some simple
direct current (DC) circuits. By the end of this lab you should understand the concepts of
current, voltage, and resistance, and how they are related. You should also be able to apply
the concept of conservation of charge to explain how current flows through different parts
of a circuit

Theoretical Background:
Ohm’s Law, Resistors, and Power Dissipation. If you apply an electric field to a material, the
charges which are free4 will feel enough electric force and start moving. We call the
collective movement of charges inside a material the current I. The unit of current is called
the Ampere, and it is equivalent to one Coulomb per second A = C/s. Materials have a
property called resistivity ρ which quantifies how difficult it is for charges to move inside
the material.

OHMs law states that

V = IR.
While this equation is true of any material with current flowing through it, it is particularly
useful when analyzing resistors. A resistor is an electrical component which resists the flow
of current and imposes a voltage difference between the two ends. Resistors are useful
because, broadly speaking, they allow us to have control over the voltage and current in a
circuit. In this lab we will explore various circuits with resistors and analyze the voltage
and current in various parts of these circuits.

EXPERIMENT

Simple Circuit using a known resistor / resistors

FIGURE 1

I. Calculate the current passing through the resistor R1 using Ohms law (known as IR1)

Applied Physics Lab Page 2 Experiment # 5

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IR1:____________________________________________________

II. Now connect the DMM as voltmeter in order to measure the voltage in the circuit as
shown in the configuration below. Fill in the required results in Table 1.

Now connect the DMM as ammeter in order to measure the current in the circuit as
shown in the configuration on the following page. Here the ammeter is shown connected
between points A and B. To measure current at different points you shall have to
disconnect the ammeter and connect it between the desired points. Fill in the required
results in Table 1

FIGURE 1

SNo Value Calculated Measured Difference

1 Voltage B-D

2 Voltage A-C

3 Current A-C

4 Current B-D

TABLE 1

Comment on any variations observed between the measured and the calculated values
of the voltages and currents.
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Applied Physics Lab Page 3 Experiment # 5

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Questions

1). How does the current through an ohmic component with resistance R change if we
double the voltage applied? (Increase, decrease? By what factor?)

2). How does the voltage across an ohmic component with resistance R change if we double
the current applied? (Increase, decrease? Bynwhat factor?)

3). In the context of electrodynamics, two familiar types of materials are conductors and
insulators. Of the two, what kind of material has
resistivity ρ → 0?

4). An alternative way to express Ohm’s Law is to use conductivity σ instead of resistivity.
The two are related ρ = 1/σ. What kind of material has conductivity σ → 0?

5). How is law of conservation of charge validated from this experiment?

Applied Physics Lab Page 4 Experiment # 5