Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering EEE141L Electrical Circuits I Lab

Lab 2: Series and Parallel Networks

A. Objectives

• Learn how to connect series and parallel elements on a breadboard.

• Validate the voltage and current divider rules.
• Verify Kirchhoff’s laws.

B. Theory

Topics covered - Series and parallel networks, voltage and current divider rules, Kirchhoff’s voltage and current laws

C. Experiment 1:

C.1 Apparatus

• Trainer board
• Digital Multimeter
• 2 x 1kΩ resistors
• 1 x 3.3kΩ resistor
• 1 x 4.7kΩ resistor

C.2 Procedure

Circuit 1 Circuit 2 Circuit 3 Circuit 4

Figure C.1

1. Identify the resistors required for the experiment and complete Table C.1.

Resistance using color code ± %Tol Resistance using DMM % Error

R1

R2

R3

R4

Table C.1

For each circuit (1 - 4) of Figure C.1:

2. Connect the circuit on the trainer board.

3. Set the dc voltage source E to 10 V. Check the potential difference using a DMM each time (for circuits 1 - 4) and record
the value in Table C.2. Disconnect the voltage source from the remainder of the circuit before taking the DMM reading
to avoid any loading effect.

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Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering EEE141L Electrical Circuits I Lab

4. Keeping the voltage source switched off and disconnected from the circuit, measure the total load resistance of the
circuit using the DMM. Record the value in Table C.2 as RT.
5. Switch on the circuit. Measure the potential difference across each resistor and record the reading.
6. Using the DMM, record the potential difference across all resistors altogether and record it as ∑Vdrops.
7. Measure the current through the circuit and record the reading.

Circuit 1 Circuit 2 Circuit 3 Circuit 3

RT

VR1

VR2

VR3

VR4

∑Vdrops

Table C.2

C.3 Report

1. Theoretically analyse circuits 1-4 in Figure C.1 using the voltage divider rule and obtain all the theoretical values of
Table C.2.
2. Calculate the percentage errors of all the measurements.
3. Compare and comment on the theoretical and experimental values.
4. Verify Kirchhoff’s voltage law from the experimental data.

D. Experiment 2

D.1 Apparatus

• Trainer board
• Digital Multimeter
• 2 x 1kΩ resistors
• 1 x 3.3kΩ resistor
• 1 x 4.7kΩ resistor

D.2 Procedure

Circuit 1 Circuit 2 Circuit 3 Circuit 4

Figure D.1

For each circuit (1 - 4) of Figure D.1:

1. Connect the circuit on the trainer board.

2. Set the dc voltage source E to 10 V. Check the potential difference using a DMM each time (for circuits 1 - 4) and record
the value in Table D.1. Disconnect the voltage source from the remainder of the circuit before taking the DMM reading
to avoid any loading effect.

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Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering EEE141L Electrical Circuits I Lab

3. Keeping the voltage source switched off and disconnected from the circuit, measure the total load resistance of the
circuit using the DMM. Record the value in Table D.1 as RT.
4. Switch on the circuit. Measure the potential difference across the parallel branches and record the reading as Vdrop.
5. Measure the source current using the DMM and record as IS.
6. Measure the current through each resistor and record the reading.

Circuit 1 Circuit 2 Circuit 3 Circuit 3

RT

Vdrop

IS

IR1

IR2

IR3

IR4

Table D.1

D.3 Report

1. Theoretically analyse circuits 1-4 in Figure D.1 using the current divider rule and obtain all the theoretical values of
Table D.1.
2. Calculate the percentage errors of all the measurements.
3. Compare and comment on the theoretical and experimental values.
4. Verify Kirchhoff’s current law from the experimental data.

E. Experiment 3

E.1 Apparatus

• Trainer board
• Digital Multimeter
• 3 x 1kΩ resistors
• 1 x 3.3kΩ resistor
• 1 x 4.7kΩ resistor
• 1 x 10kΩ resistor

E.2 Procedure

Figure E.1

1. Identify the resistors required for the experiment and complete Table E.1.

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Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering EEE141L Electrical Circuits I Lab

Resistance using color code ± %Tol Resistance using DMM % Error

R1

R2

R3

R4

R5

R6

Table E.1

2. Construct the circuit of Figure E.1. Note the voltage source is 12 V.

3. Using a DMM, measure the potential differences across each component and record in Table E.2.
4. Using a DMM, measure the current through each component and record in Table E.2.

Component Voltage Current

R1

R2

R3

R4

R5

R6

Table E.2

E.3 Report

1. Theoretically analyse the ladder circuit in Figure E.1 and obtain all the theoretical values of Table E.2.
2. Calculate the percentage errors of all the measurements.
3. Compare and comment on the theoretical and experimental values.
4. Verify Kirchhoff’s voltage law within each independent closed loop of the circuit from the experimental data.
5. Verify Kirchhoff’s current law at nodes a and b of the circuit from the experimental data.
6. Using LTSpice, perform dc operating point analysis of the circuit in Figure E.1. Show all the readings of Table E.2.
Provide screenshots of your circuit and the analysis results.

EEE141L 08 June 2015