Introduction:

Objective: 1- To confirm the relationship of current, voltage, and resistance

in an electric circuit (Ohm’s Law).
2- To explore what happens to the resistance of a light bulb’s
filament as it changes temperature.

Apparatus: 1- PASCO 550 Interface

2- Filament lamp
3- Carbon Resistors (𝟔𝟖 𝛀 and 𝟏𝟐𝟎 𝛀)
3- AC Electronics Lab
5- Connection Board

Theory:

Formulas used to achieve our objectives:

1. 𝑹 = 𝑽𝑰 Used to find the resistance in 𝒐𝒉𝒎(𝛀) , 𝑽 is the voltage or potential

difference in 𝒗𝒐𝒍𝒕𝒔(𝑽) and 𝑰 is the current in 𝑨𝒎𝒑𝒔(𝑨)

2. 𝑷 = 𝑰 × 𝑽 Used to find the power in 𝑾𝒂𝒕𝒕(𝑾) . 𝑽 is the voltage or

potential difference in 𝒗𝒐𝒍𝒕𝒔(𝑽) and 𝑰 is the current in 𝑨𝒎𝒑𝒔(𝑨)

3. 𝑬 = 𝑷 × 𝒕
Used to find the electrical energy in 𝒌𝑾 ∗ 𝒉 , 𝑷 is the power in
𝑾𝒂𝒕𝒕(𝒌𝑾), and 𝒕 is time in 𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔(𝒉)

September 2022
Data:
Attach the V-I graphs for the Carbon resistors & filament lamp
I - Carbon Resistors (Ohmic Resistors)

a) Resistance I [R1] from Graph = slope = 65.8 Ω

[Actual value is 68 Ω]

b) Resistance II [R2] from Graph = slope = 115 Ω

[Actual value is 120 Ω]

September 2022
 Find the percentage error in each case:
| Actual value − Theoretical value |
× 100%
Actual value
| 68−65.8 |
% 𝑒𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑟 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑅1 = × 100
68

= 3.24%

| 120−115 |
% 𝑒𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑟 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑅2 = × 100
120

= 4.17%

II - Variable resistors (Filament lamb)

𝑽
𝑹=
𝑰
𝑰𝟏 = −0.144 𝐴 , 𝑽𝟏 = −0.441 𝑉
𝑉 −0.441
𝑹𝟏 = = −0.144 = 3.0625 Ω
𝐼

𝑰𝟐 = 0.275 𝐴 , 𝑽𝟐 = 0.406 𝑉
𝑉 0.406
𝑹𝟐 = = 0.275 = 1.476 Ω
𝐼

September 2022
Problems:
1. How does the ratio of voltage and current from the Scope display
compare to the resistance of the resistors?
The first resistor used had a value of 68 Ω, but from the scope display the value
was 65.8 Ω which gives us a percentage error of 3.24%. The second resistor had a
value of 120 Ω and from the scope display it was 115 Ω, which gives us a
percentage error of 4.17%.

2. Does each resistor appear to have a constant resistance?

Yes, in the first experiment the ratio of the voltage to current remains constant
which means the graph of the voltage to current is straight and linear so the slope is
constant.

3. Does the light bulb filament appear to have a constant resistance

(constant ratio of voltage to current)? Why or why not?
No, because the light bulb is non-linear. The ratio of Voltage to current varies with
respect to line. The resistance changes because filament changes overtime.
A part of the current is lost as heat energy. -0.25
4. For a circuit with a constant resistance, what happens to the current as
the voltage increases?
Voltage has a directly proportional relationship with current that mean when the
voltage increases the current increases.

5. For a circuit with a constant resistance, what kind of relationship (e.g.,

inverse, linear) does the current have to the voltage?
𝑉
We all know that 𝐼 = , So 𝐼 ∝ 𝑉 when the resistance is constant. This mean the
𝑅
relationship is known as linear relationship.

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 6. A 12 Volt car battery pushes charge through the headlight circuit
resistance of 10 ohms. How much current is passing through the circuit?
Given, 𝑉 = 12 𝑉 & 𝑅 = 10 Ω

𝑉
𝐼=
𝑅
12
=
10

= 1.2 𝐴

7. How much voltage would be necessary to generate 10 amps of current in

a circuit that has 5 ohms of resistance?
Given, 𝐼 = 10 𝐴 & 𝑅 = 5 Ω

𝑉 =𝐼×𝑅
= 10 × 5
= 50 𝑉

8. A flashlight bulb uses 2.4 W of power when the current in the bulb is 0.8
A. What is the voltage difference?
Given, 𝑃 = 2.4 𝑊 & 𝐼 = 0.8 𝐴

𝑃
𝑉=
𝐼
2.4
=
0.8

= 3𝑉

September 2022
 9. A current of 0.5 A flows in a 60 W light bulb when the voltage
difference between the ends of the filament is 120 V. What is the
resistance of the filament?
Given, 𝐼 = 0.5 , 𝑃 = 60 𝑊 &, 𝑉 = 120 𝑉

𝑉
𝑅=
𝐼
120
=
0.5

= 240 Ω

10. In the circuit given below and choose correct option

Answer is b)
a) Connect voltmeter in 1 and ammeter in 2
b) Connect ammeter in 1 and voltmeter in 2
c) Both a and b statements are true

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 11. Suppose you did a lab with this simple circuit and got the following
data. Plot the points of the provided graph. Also find the resistance
from the slope of the graph.
Voltage(V) 0.65 1.41 2.55 3.28 4.11 6.15

Current(A) 0.12 0.29 0.51 0.67 0.81 1.23

10
Voltage (V)

5
0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4
Current (A)

𝑽
𝑹=
𝑰
6.15−2.55 3.6
𝑅= =
1.23−0.51 0.72

=5Ω

September 2022
Discussion:
In the first part of the experiment, we used two carbon resistors with
different resistance values to prove that they follow Ohm’s law. First, we
connected 𝑅1 which had an ideal resistance value of 68 Ω to the board. The graph
generated for 𝑅1 was a linear graph with a slope or actual resistance of 65.8 Ω.
Then, we connected 𝑅2 which had a theoretical value 120 Ω to the board. The
graph generated for 𝑅2 was a straight line with a slope of 115 Ω. In the second part
of the experiment, we used a filament lamp to prove that it does not follow Ohm’s
law. We connected the lamp to the board and the graph generated was a line with
curves. The points (−0.441, −0.144) 𝑎𝑛𝑑 (0.406, 0.275) were selected to find the
resistance at two different points. 𝑅1 at (−0.441, −0.144) was calculated to be
3.0625 Ω while 𝑅2 at (0.406, 0.275) was 1.476 Ω ,which are clearly different
values. Throughout this experiment, the power source that we used was an
alternating current source (AC).

In the first part of the experiment, there was an error in the measurement of
the value of resistance. The theoretical value of 𝑅1 was 68 Ω but the actual value
was 65.8 Ω. 𝑅2 theoretical value was 120 Ω but the actual value was 115 Ω .So, we
calculated the percentage of the error using the formula × 100% , and
| Actual value − Theoretical value |
Actual value

the percentage error was 3.24% for 𝑅1 and 4.17% for 𝑅2 .

The circuit can be incorrectly connected or the readings were taken

incorrectly as a result of careless handling. Low-quality, old, or defective cables or
devices could produce inaccurate results. PASCO 550 Interface could cause errors
because of incorrect usage or as a result of being used many times. Also, dusty and
unclean apparatus could lead to errors in measurement.

Take your readings cautiously to prevent mistakes. Every connection is

clean and neat. Make sure that all apparatuses are working properly, are of quality
and up-to-date.

September 2022
Conclusion:
Ohm’s law states that the current and voltage are directly related. In the first
exercise, we proved that a carbon resistor is Ohmic when the voltage vs current
graph showed a linear line with a constant value of resistance -which was the
slope- across the line. In the second exercise, we proved that the filament lamp is
non-Ohmic when the graph generated was not straight line but had curves and had
a changing value of resistance. So, our goal was achieved in this experiment.

September 2022