Experiment to Verify Ohm’s Law

LAB REPORT 5

Introduction to Physics II
PHY 132
Professor Chukwuemeka Patrick Abbey
Professor Chukwudi Ugwumba
4th March 2022.

STUDENT INFORMATION
NAME: Abdul-Qudus Jimoh
ID NUMBER: A00021513
GROUP MEMBERS
 Anointing Izuchukwu
 Samuel Onyebuchi
 Isioma Enwerem
 Clinton Chuks
 Objectives
The objectives of this experiment were to:
 To verify Ohm’s law and,
 To investigate and test the principle of the law using ohmic and non-ohmic
conductors.
N.B: By the previous lab session, ohm’s law states that the current through a
conductor between two points is directly proportional to the voltage across the two
points.

Apparatus
The following apparatus was needed for this experiment:
1. 3 varied values of resistors
2. Power supply
3. Connecting wires
4. Multimeter
5. 1-bulb
6. A4 Paper

Theory
Ohm’s law describes the relationship between resistance, current, and voltage. This
law states that the current flowing through a resistor is proportional to the potential
difference across the resistor as the temperature and physical conditions remain
constant. Mathematically, this can be displayed as:
V = IR
Where:
V = the voltage which has units of volts.
I = the current which has units of amperes.
R = the resistance which has units of ohms.
 The devices used to measure voltage and current are the voltmeter and the
ammeter respectively. These can both be found on a digital multimeter. A resistor
is an electrical component that is used to control the flow of electric current. The
most commonly available resistors are carbon resistors and they have color bands
over their bodies that are used to identify the amount of resistance they possess.
The aim of this lab is to test the principle of Ohm’s law using ohmic and non-
ohmic conductor devices.

PROCEDURE
A circuit was connected using alligator clips, a DC power supply, and two digital
multimeters in which one serving as a voltmeter and the other as an ammeter. 3
resistors and one bulb with known resistance were connected in turns and their
currents and voltages were measured as the voltages of the DC power supply were
increased from 0 – 3V with a 0.5V interval. The readings gotten were recorded.

CALCULATIONS AND RESULTS

DATA TABLE 2
Volts VR 1 IR 1 VR 2 IR 2 VR3 IR 3 Vb Ib
(V)
0 0.004 0.00 0.010 0.01 0.000 0.01 0.000 0.02
0.5 0.516 1.02 0.540 0.54 0.510 2.37 0.450 0.05
1 1.032 2.22 0.960 0.98 0.950 4.40 0.960 0.07
1.5 1.492 3.22 1.530 1.56 1.420 6.60 1.440 0.09
2 1.928 4.16 1.950 1.98 1.890 8.80 1.910 0.11
2.5 2.400 5.17 2.430 2.47 2.380 11.02 2.430 0.12
3 2.960 6.38 2.960 3.01 2.860 13.28 2.900 0.14
GRAPHS

Resistor 1
3.5
2.96
3
f(x) = 0.460522035072061 x + 0.0174609260646286 2.4
2.5
1.928
2
V(V)

1.492
1.5
1.032
1
0.516
0.5
0.004
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

I(A)

Resistor 2
3.5
2.96
3
f(x) = 0.982686738566008 x + 0.00180784401837375 2.43
2.5
1.95
2
V(V)

1.53
1.5
0.96
1
0.54
0.5
0.01
0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5

I(A)
 Resistor 3
3.5
2.86
3
f(x) = 0.2155753000771 x − 0.00141999251194624 2.38
2.5
1.89
2
V(V)

1.42
1.5
0.95
1
0.51
0.5
0
0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14

I(A)

BULB
3.5
2.9
3
2.43
2.5 f(x) = 24.7972972972973 x − 0.684054054054054
1.91
2
V(V)

1.44
1.5
0.96
1
0.45
0.5
0
0
0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16

I(A)
Resistors Theoretical Experimental Ohmic Slope Percentage Deviation
(%deviation =
Values Values Resistance Resistance
( Slope Resistance−O h mic Resitan
O h mic resistance
R1=Yellow ,Violet , Brown ,Gold 470 ± 5 % 0.466 4.7 × 10
−1 0.4605 ( 0.4605−0 .47 )
OR 0.47
×100
0.47
= 2.02% (neglect negative sign)
R2=Brown , Black , Red , Gold 100 0 ±5 % 0.987 9.9 ×10
−1 0.9827 (0. 9827−0.99)
OR 0.99
×100
0.99
= 0.73%
R3=Red , Red , Brown , Gold 22 0 ±5 % 0.218 2 .2 ×10 −1 0.2156 (0. 2156−0.22)
OR 0.22
× 100
0.22
= 2.0%
Bulb 0.004 2 .14 ×10
1 24.797 (24.797−21.4)
OR 21.4
×100
21.4
= 15.87%

NOTE: The ohmic resistance for each resistor is calculated on the data sheet.

RESULTS
As seen from the graphs of the 3 resistors, there is a linear relationship between the
current and the potential difference. This shows the direct proportionality that
Ohm’s law describes. The slope of the regressions line gives the value of the
resistance. For the graph of the bulb, the relationship is not linear. From this, it can
be seen that it doesn’t follow ohm’s law.
Analyzing the information of the graph using the percentage deviation, it can
be seen that the resistors have a very low percentage deviation. This means that
their resistance gotten from the slope is very close to the value which is predicted
using the ohmic resistance from the bands. However, this doesn’t apply to the bulb.
The bulb has a high percentage deviation of 15.87%. This means that the
resistance gotten from the graph is far from that which is predicted using ohm’s
law. This shows that the bulb does not follow ohm’s law and therefore is not an
ohmic conductor, unlike the 3 resistors.
PRECAUTIONS
 It was ensured that the continuity of the alligator clips was tested using the
multimeter
 It was ensured that the DC power supply was set to the correct voltage for
each step throughout the experiment
 It was ensured that the voltmeter was connected in parallel to the resistor
 It was ensured that liquids were kept out of the vicinity
 It was ensured that all equipment was in good shape before being used

CONCLUSION
The aim of this lab was to test the principle of Ohm’s law using ohmic and
non-ohmic conductor devices. This was accomplished by plotting the graph of
the voltage and current gotten from testing 3 different resistors and a bulb. The
3 resistors proved to be ohmic devices as their graphs displayed the direct
proportionality of current and voltage which ohm’s law describes, and their
resistances derived from that graph corresponded with their ohmic resistances
with very little percentage deviations (2.02%, 0.73%, and 2.0% respectively).
However, the bulb proved to be a non-ohmic device as the graph did not display
the direct proportionality of current and voltage which ohm’s law describes, and
its resistance derived from that graph did not correspond with their ohmic
resistances (as seen from the high percentage deviation of 15.87%). It was
verified that the principle of ohm’s law applies to ohmic conductor devices
only. Therefore, the experiment was successful.