Electric Circuit Fall 2015 Pingqiang Zhou

ShanghaiTech University

School of Information Science and Technology

Professor Pingqiang Zhou

LABORATORY 1

Introduction to Circuits and Instruments

Guide

Objectives

The electronic circuit is the basis for all branches of electrical engineering. In this lab,
basic electronic circuit theory, electronic components and devices will be introduced and
employed. Fundamental testing equipment will be used to measure and characterize simple
circuitry. In the hands-on lab, you will apply these basic theories to the devices and
components provided to design simple circuits.

1. Ohm’s Law: V = IR

Current (denoted I) and voltage (denoted V) are two major quantities that are used to
study electronic circuits. Current is the amount of charge passing through a certain area in
a unit time period, while voltage describes the electrical potential drop across any two
nodes in a given circuit. Ohm’s Law states that the voltage V across an ideal resistor is
proportional to the current I through the resistor. The constant of proportionality is the
resistance R of the Resistor.

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Figure 1. Ohm’s Law.

2. Series and parallel connections

A circuit usually contains many devices connected in different fashions. Two basic types
of configuration are series and parallel. As shown in the figure below, when the devices are
connected in series, the current going through them is the same (I = I1 = I2), and the total
voltage across both devices is the sum of the voltage across each device (V = V1 + V2).
However, for parallel connection, the voltage across the devices is the same (V = V1 = V2)
since they share the same nodes across which the potential drop is measured, and the total
current running through all the devices is the sum of the current in each branch (I = I1 + I2).

Figure 2.

Now let us examine the resistive circuits shown below.

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Figure 3.

Voltage-divider circuit:
In (a), based on Ohm’s law,
V1 = R1I1, V2 = R2I2
And since this is a series connection,
I1 = I2 = I, V = V1 + V2
Therefore,
V = (R1 + R2) I
R1 R2
It is straightforward to get V1  V and V2  V.
R1  R 2 R1  R 2

Therefore, when a voltage is applied to a series combination of resistances, a fraction of

the voltage appears across each of the resistances. And of the total voltage, the fraction that
appears across a given resistance in a series circuit is the ratio of the given resistance to the
total series resistance.

Current-divider circuit:
In (b), the two resistors are connected in parallel.
From Ohm’s law,
V1 = R1I1, V2 = R2I2
And since this is a parallel connection,
V1 = V2 = V, I = I1 + I2
Therefore,
V V RR V
I   1 2
R1 R 2 R1  R 2

R2 R1
It is straightforward to get I1  I and I 2  I.
R1  R 2 R1  R 2

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Therefore, the total current flowing into a parallel combination of resistances divides, and
a fraction of the total current flows through each resistance. And the fraction of the total
current flowing in a resistor is the ratio of the other resistance to the sum of the two
resistances.

3. Ideal voltage and current sources

An ideal voltage source supplies a constant voltage across its output terminals no matter
how much current is going through it. Likewise, an ideal current source will supply
constant current out no matter what the voltage across it is. The circuit symbol of the ideal
voltage or current source is shown in the figure below.

Figure 4.

4. Resistor

The resistor is the most basic and widely used component in electronic circuits. And the
relation of the voltage and the current of a resistor in a circuit will follow Ohm’s law. A
typical resistor is color coded to indicate the resistance value. There are two types of color
coding, 4-band-code and 5-band-code. As can be seen, the 5-band-code has one more digit
resolution than the 4-band-code. The following chart provides the color code for both 4-
band and 5-band resistors. To decode the color bands and calculate the corresponding
resistance value, one needs to follow the steps below.
a) Find the tolerance band. It is located at one end of the resistor and far away from the
rest of the color bands. It gives the accuracy of the actual resistance to the value that
is labeled.
b) Start from the other end and use the color code map to identify the color band. This
will be the first digit (the most significant digit) of the resistance value.
c) Then similarly decode the second and the third band (for 5-band resistor only). Write
down all the digits in order (from left to right).
d) The last band is the multiplier. Use the decoded digits to multiply the decoded
multiplier to get the resistance value.

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Figure 5. Color Code.

Introduction to major equipment

1. Breadboard

A breadboard is a reusable solderless device used to build a (generally temporary)

prototype of an electronic circuit and for experimenting with circuit designs. This is in
contrast to stripboard (veroboard) and similar prototyping printed circuit boards (PCB),
which are used to build more permanent prototypes or one-offs, and cannot easily be reused.
A typical breadboard will have strips of interconnected electrical terminals, known as bus
strips, down one or both sides — either as part of the main unit or as separate blocks clipped
on — to carry the power rails. A typical breadboard with a circuit built on it is shown below.

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Figure 6. A breadboard with a completed circuit.

A modern solderless breadboard consists of a perforated block of plastic with numerous tin
plated phosphor bronze spring clips under the perforations. Integrated circuits (ICs) in dual
inline packages (DIPs) can be inserted to straddle the centerline of the block.

Interconnecting wires and the leads of discrete components (such as capacitors, resistors,
inductors, etc.) can be inserted into the remaining free holes to complete the circuit
topology. In this manner, a variety of electronic systems may be prototyped, from small
circuits to complete central processing units (CPUs). However, due to large stray
capacitance (from 2-25pF per contact point), solderless breadboards are limited to
operating at relatively low frequencies, usually less than 10 MHz, depending on the nature
of the circuit. The node connection of a typical breadboard is shown in the figure below.

.
Figure 7. The node connection of a typical breadboard

2. Power supply

Like a battery, a DC power supply provides a constant voltage for powering electronic
circuits. But, unlike a battery, the power supply won’t die out. It will provide continuous
power as long as it is connected to a wall outlet. Furthermore, you can set the voltage of
the supply as needed and set the maximum current (the current limit feature) that can be
drawn from it. The power supply will NOT output a value of current greater than the set

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limit. If the circuit is operated in a situation that it needs to draw more current than the set
maximum current, the supply will adjust the output voltage to match this maximum value
of current. This feature will protect the circuit when you know beforehand that it cannot
tolerate more than a certain current level.

Figure 8. RIGOL DP832 DC power supply.

In this lab, we use RIGOL DP832 triple output DC power supply. The switches control the
more advanced features built into the equipment. The power supply contains three variable
voltage sources, with maximum voltage values of +30V, +30V, and +5V. One of the +30V
and the +5V supplies share a common reference terminal (com). The earth ground is the
terminal connected to the case of the instrument and more importantly, the earth, through
the building wall socket.

The concept of “ground” is VERY IMPORTANT. A ground node means the potential at
that node is 0 volts. Since voltage is the potential difference between two nodes, “5 volts”
means one node has a potential of 5 volts with respect to a ground (or a reference) node.
The true ground – earth ground is the green connector, but all other black connectors are
reference grounds that can be used to apply voltage to a circuit. Note that the earth ground
terminal is isolated and is connected to the case of the instrument, which is also connected
to the earth ground through the 3-wire receptacle. One of the +30V and the +5V supplies
outputs have a common output terminal (denoted by "com") which is isolated from the
earth ground. The positive or negative terminals of each output can be grounded or each
output can be left floating with respect to the ground.

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3. Digital multimeter (DMM)

Currents and voltages are the basic circuit variables of interest. In this lab we are mainly
concerned with accurately measuring resistance, DC voltage and currents using a digital
multimeter (DMM). We will use the FLUKE15B+ digital multimeter which is a high
performance instrument capable of measuring resistance, capacitance, DC and AC voltage
and current, as well as frequency.

Figure 9. FLUKE15B+ digital multimeter.

4. Function generator

A function generator is an instrument that can generate a periodic AC signal at different

frequencies. In this lab, we use the RIGOL DG1062 function generator. This is a versatile
instrument capable of generating sine, square, and other waveforms. The amplitude and
offset of these waveforms can also be controlled easily. The front panel of the function
generator is shown in the figure below. A time-varying periodic voltage signal will be
generated and output at the OUTPUT connector. By pushing the appropriate buttons on the
front panel, the user can specify the following characteristics of the signal:
 Shape: sinusoidal, square, or triangular waves. These are all mathematical functions
of time.
 Frequency: inverse of the period of the signal; units are cycles per second (Hz).
 Amplitude: peak to peak value of the time-varying component of the signal.
 DC Offset: constant voltage added to the signal to increase or decrease its mean or
average level.
A sine wave of frequency f, peak to peak amplitude VPP, and DC offset VDC is written
mathematically as v(t) = (VPP/2) × sin (2πf t) + VDC.

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Figure 10. RIGOL DG1062 function generator.

5. Oscilloscope

An oscilloscope is a device that graphs voltage versus time. The display shows voltage
on the vertical axis as a function of time on the horizontal axis. The user can control the
scale of both the time and the voltage axes. The RIGOL-MSO1104 oscilloscope used in
this lab can accept four voltage-signal inputs.

Figure 11. RIGOL-MSO1104 oscilloscope.

Reference

[1]UC Berkeley, course EE-100, Summer 2008.

[2]UC Berkeley, course EE-100, Spring 2011.

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Prelab

Name _______________________ Student ID ________________________

1. Two resistors are connected in parallel to an ideal voltage source of 5V. Choose the
value of R2 so that the total current going through R1 and R2 is 100 mA. __/10pt

2. There are three 5-band resistors, they have different band colors. Try to verify the
values. (The fifth band indicates tolerance) __/10pt

Colors Value
Red Red Black Orange Brown
Orange Orange Black Yellow Brown
Brown Black Black Black Red

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3. If RL is 150Ω, and the signal generator display

shows Vpp = 1V, what is the actual peak to peak
amplitude of the signal across RL?
__/10pt

TA checkoff

Question1: of 10 Pt.

Question2: of 10 Pt.

Question3: of 10 Pt.

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Report

Name TA Checkoff

Teammate Score

Part One:
Oscilloscopes are complicated electronic instruments for measuring voltage versus time.
We will make extensive use of an oscilloscope later in this course, but today we treat the
oscilloscope as a simple circuit element without worrying about its internals.

Use the circuit shown below to measure the IV characteristic for V = -5 … +5V and graph
(do not forget to label the axes!) your result in the chart provided. Make sure that the
oscilloscope is turned on when making the measurement. After removing the scope probe
from the circuit, check your result with the ohm meter setting of the multimeter. You can
use one multimeter as amperemeter and another as voltmeter. Use the multimeter from the
team next to you if one is not enough.

Note: use an oscilloscope probe with a hook and a black clip to connect the scope and tie
the black strand to the common terminal of the supply. Ask the TA if you are not sure how
to do this.

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What value resistor has the same IV characteristic?

Extracted resistance: _____ Ω __/15pt

Does the amperemeter reading change after the voltmeter is removed? Why? __/15pt

Part Two:
Set the laboratory supply for 5V output and
20mA maximum current and load it with
resistor R1=1kΩ.

a. Verify the output voltage with the voltmeter. (Use the multimeter for all these
measurements. The meter that is built into the supply is not accurate). __/10pt

Predicted value: _____ V

Measured Value: _____ V

b. Disconnect the voltmeter. What is the current flowing through resistor R1? __/10pt

Predicted value: _____ A

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Design a circuit for measuring the current flowing through R1. Your diagram should
include the supply, resistor, and the ampere meter.

Measured Value: _____ A

Explain discrepancies:

c. Replace R1 with a 100Ω resistor. What are the voltage across and current flowing through
the resistor? __/10pt

Predicted values: _____ V _____ A Measured values: _____ V _____ A

Explain discrepancies:

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d. Measure the IV characteristic of the R1. R1=100Ω, 300Ω, 1kΩ.Please draw neatly and
use a ruler!
__/10pt

TA: ______________________
Part One: ____________of 30 Pt.
Part Two: ____________of 40 Pt.
Prelab: ____________of 30Pt.
Total: ____________of 100Pt.

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