LABORATORIUM FISIKA

FISIKA
LABORATORY MANUAL
George Ricarrson - 2501987261

BINUS-ASO SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING

 Experiment
Resistivity

I. OBJECTIVE
At the end of this topic students can understand and explain:
• Relate resistance to wire length
• Determine resistivity of different materials

II. INTRODUCTION
The resistivity of different metals is determined by finding the resistance of wires of a known
diameter as a function of their length. It is also shown that the resistance of a wire of fixed
length is inversely proportional to its cross-sectional area.

If a current (I) is flowing through a wire, the voltage drop (V) across a certain length of wire
with resistance R is given by Ohm's Law:

V=IR

or solving for R gives:

R = V/I (1)

In this experiment, you will measure V and I to determine R for various lengths of wire. You
will then make a graph of R versus length (L).

The resistance of a wire depends on the length of the wire, the cross-sectional area (A), and
the resistivity (ρ) of the material:

R = ρ L/A (2)

A plot of R vs. L will result in a straight line that has a slope equal to ρ/A.
Thus the resistivity is given by
ρ = (slope)A = (slope)π(d/2)2 (3)
where d is the diameter of the wire.
III. PROCEDURE
Equipment

Included:
1 Resistance Apparatus EM-8812
1 Voltage Sensor UI-5100
1 Patch cords (set of 5) SE-9750
Required but not included:
1 850 Universal Interface UI-5000
1 PASCO Capstone
1 Micrometer SE-7337

Setup/Procedure:

Figure 1: Setup

1. Make the connections as shown in Figure 1. In PASCO Capstone Hardware Setup, click on Signal
Generator #1 and select the Output Voltage Current Sensor. Set the sample rate of all the
sensors to 100 Hz.
2. Open the Data Summary and click on the properties gear icon for the Voltage Sensor (UI-5100).
Set the gain to 1000.
3. Select four brass wires of different diameter and measure* their diameters. Also select one
each of the other wires (Nichrome, Steel, Aluminum, and Copper) and measure the diameters
of each. Brass is yellow in color. The Aluminum, Steel, and Nichrome are all grey in color. The
Aluminum is a lighter grey, and Nichrome is a uniform dark grey. The Steel is also dark grey, but
not as uniform in color. Best way to tell is using a magnet. Of the five metals, only steel will be
attracted to a magnet. Change the values in the Brass Wire table under the Data tab to match
your values for Brass. Change the values in the Different Metals table under the Resistivity tab
to match your values for the five different metals.
*If you do not have a micrometer (or good digital calipers), use these values of diameter:
0.127 cm
0.101 cm (use this for the non-brass wires as well)
0.082 cm
0.051 cm
4. On the Resistivity apparatus, move the Reference Probe and the Slider Probe to the Park
position. The probes should be as far left and right respectively as possible so the probe lifts up
to allow installation of the sample wire. They will click into position.
5. Turn the two black handles counterclockwise to open the clamps to allow the sample wire to
slide into position.
6. Install the copper wire in the apparatus. Slide from left or right using the white line-up hash
marks. Figure 2 shows the right hand side as the wire slides in. Note that on the right hand side,
the wire is on the far side of the silver clamp (with black handle), but on the left hand side the
wire will be on the near side of the clamp as shown in Figure 3. This prevents the wire from
bowing as you tighten the clamps.
7. Tighten the clamps by turning the black handles clockwise.
8. Position the reference probe at the 0 cm mark and the slider probe at the 5 cm mark.

Figure 2: Right Hand Clamp Figure 3: Left Hand Clamp

9. In PASCO Capstone, create a table with a user-entered data set called “Wire Length” with units
of cm. Then, in the second column, create a user-entered data set called “Resistance” with
units of mΩ.

Table I: Different Lengths

Copper Aluminium
<No Data <No Data <No Data <No Data
Selected> Selected> Selected> Selected>
Wire Length Resistance (mΩ) Wire Length Resistance (mΩ)
(cm) (cm)
1 5 1.07 5 3.47
2 10 2.12 10 6.96
3 15 3.18 15 10.45
4 20 4.24 20 13.88
5 24 5.09 24 16.63
 Brass Steel
<No Data <No Data <No Data <No Data
Selected> Selected> Selected> Selected>
Wire Length Resistance (mΩ) Wire Length Resistance (mΩ)
(cm) (cm)
1 5 4.10 5 47.16
2 10 8.25 10 94.10
3 15 12.37 15 141.25
4 20 16.52 20 188.18
5 24 19.81 24 226.12

Nichrome
<No Data <No Data
Selected> Selected>
Wire Length Resistance (mΩ)
(cm)
1 5 65.99
2 10 131.63
3 15 197.09
4 20 261.57
5 24 313.41

Table II: Brass Wires

Resisten (mΩ) Diameter (mm)
1 83.75 0.51
2 33.65 0.82
3 19.81 1.01
4 13.05 1.27

10. Create another table with a user-entered data set called “Resistance.” (Note the period) with
units of mΩ. Then, in the second column, create a user-entered data set called “diameter” with
units of mm.
11. Create a third table with five columns:
Table III: Different Metals
Wire Diameter Slope ρ Resistivity
Metal (μΩ cm)
(mm) (mΩ/cm) (μΩ cm)
Copper 1.016 0.21 1.703 1.8 ± 0.1

Aluminium 1.016 0.79 6.407 4.9 ± 0.1

Brass 1.016 0.79 0.407 7.0 ± 0.5

Steel 1.016 9.47 76.807 79 ± 1

Nichrome 1.016 12.63 102.43 105 ± 5

The first column has a user-entered data set called “Metal”. The second column has a user-
entered set called “Wire Diameter” with units of mm. The third column has a user-entered set
called “Slope” with units of mΩ/cm. The fourth column has the calculation ρ as defined in the
next step. The fifth column has a user-entered set called “Resistivity” with units of mΩ-cm.
Enter the following manufacturer’s values for the Resistivity: 1.8 ± 0.1; 4.9 ± 0.1; 7.0 ± 0.5; 79 ±
1; 105 ± 5.

12. Open the calculator and create the following calculations:

V = 1000*avg([Voltage, Ch A]) Units of mV
I = 1000*avg([Output Current, Ch O1]) Units of mA
R = 1000*[V]/[I] Units of mΩ
Area = π*([diameter]/2)^2 Units of mm2
ρ = (π*([Wire Diameter]/2)^2)*[R/L]*10 Units of μΩ-cm

13. Create three digits displays and choose the calculations:

V(mV), I(mA), and R(mΩ).

14. Create a graph of Resistance vs. Length.

Procedure
1. Click open the Signal Generator (left side of screen). 850
Output 1 should be set for a DC voltage of 2.0 V. Click the
On button to turn the Signal Generator on.
2. Move the Slider Probe on the Resistance Apparatus so the
contact is at 5.0 cm.
3. Read the rest of this page, then click open the Data tab. The program will ask if you wish to turn
off the Signal Generator, click Leave On.
4. Click RECORD at the bottom left of the screen. Wait a few seconds until the numbers stop
changing and then click STOP.
5. The resistance in the lower box is calculated from R = V/I where the V and I values are averages
that show in the upper two boxes. In the first row of the Table I, enter the Resistance and then
the Wire Length (5.0 cm).
6. Repeat steps 5 & 6 for Slider Probe positions of 10.0 cm, 15.0 cm, 20.0 cm, & 24.0 cm.
If you use the same positions for each run, you will only need to enter them for the Copper
runs.
7. The Data summary should show five runs. Double click on the last run (probably Run #5) and re-
label it Copper. Delete all the other runs using the white triangle by the Delete Last Run icon at
the bottom of the page.
8. Replace the Copper wire with the Aluminum wire. The Aluminum wire is lighter in color and
weighs less. Repeat steps 5 thru 8 except label the last run Aluminum. Delete all the other runs
except for Copper.
9. Repeat for the Steel and Nichrome wires except do step 2 again and change the Gain to 10x.
10. Repeat for the 1.0 mm (second largest) brass wire except do step 2 and change the Gain to
100x. When you do the 24 cm run, enter the Table I as before, but also enter it in the Table II in
the 1 mm row.
11. Repeat for the other three brass wires, except only do the 24 cm position and enter the data in
the Table II. Label the runs Brass 127, Brass 82, Brass 51.

Analysis
1. The graph shows the resistances you measured versus the length of wire you used. From the
graph toolbar, click the Run Select black triangle and select the Copper run.
2. Click the Scale-to-fit icon at the top left of the toolbar.
3. Click the black triangle by the Curve Fit icon on the toolbar and select Linear. Right
click in the Linear box and click on Show Uncertainty if it is not already showing.
4. Record the slope, m, of the R versus L graph in the Slope column of the Table III. Note
that in most cases the uncertainty in the slope is less than 1%.
5. Repeat for each of the different metals.
6.

Conclusions
1. How well does the data fit straight lines? What does this show?
The data fit straight line, but if it zoom in, the data isn’t actually on the straight line (not scale
linearly). This could have been some factors such as the composition of the metals cause we
recorded the average value of resisteance of every metal. This show the resistance is directly
proportional to the length which means is it’s the same as theoretical equations.
2. Click open the Calculator at the left of the page and verify that line 5 calculating ρ is in
agreement with Equation 3 from Theory. The factor of 10 arises from converting from
mm2(mΩ)/cm to μΩ-cm. Click the Calculator closed.
3. The value calculated for ρ is given in column 3. Except for Nichrome, the major source of
uncertainty is the measurement of the diameter. If you measured this with a micrometer or
 digital calipers that read to 0.01 mm, the uncertainty in ρ is about 1%. Nichrome may have had
a larger uncertainty in Slope due to spread in the data.
4. Column 4, labeled Resistivity, contains the manufacturer’s values. The uncertainty arises
because the metal wires are actually alloys and the actual resistivity depends on the exact
composition.
5. Discuss how well you data agrees with the given values. What does this show about Equation
3?
There’s some data didn’t agree (brass and aluminium). It due to human error or other factors.
This shows that R/l is part of the 3rd equation as p=slope*A while slope is R/L that means as the
R/L increases the value of resistivity increases.

Area Dependence
1. Create a graph of the resistances you measured (Resistance.) versus the cross-sectional
area for the four brass wires.
2. On the Area axis, click on the measurement and select the quick-calc y-1.
3. Click on the Curve Fit black triangle and turn on Linear.
4. How well does your data fit a straight line? What does this show about Equation 2 from
Theory? What is the physical meaning of the slope?
The data almost fit a straight line, this also shows that equation 2 is true as the resistance
decreases and the cross sectional area increases. Since this data isn’t straight line technically
signifies an error value of sorts. It follows the equation by being either scaling linealy.

IV. REFERENSES
PASCO Scientific. [Online]. Instruction Manual and Experiment Guide for the PASCO
scientific model for Resistivity experiment https://www.pasco.com/products/complete-
 experiments/electromagnetism/ex-5534#experiment-panel

GRAPH :

Nichrome

Steel
Aluminium

Copper
 Brass

Area Dependence