Ohmic and Non-Ohmic Circuit

Elements
Omphile Mokhuane
PHY1032F
Introduction

When an electric current flows through a circuit element, the moving charge carriers interact with
the constituent atoms of the circuit element’s material, obstructing the charge carriers’ flow through
the material. This phenomenon is known as electrical resistance. The unit of electrical resistance R is
V
known as ohm (Ω). Resistance of the circuit can be determined using the following equation R= ,
I
where V is the potential difference across the circuit and I is the current flowing through the
circuit.

V
Ohmic elements are elements that obey Ohm’s Law and the ratio is constant for all values of V .
I
Ohm’s Law states that the potential difference across a conductor is directly proportional to the
V
current if the temperature remains constant. Non-Ohmic elements are elements where the ratio
I
is not constant and Ohm’s Law does not hold. In this experiment, we will determine which elements
are Ohmic elements and non-Ohmic elements

Method

Using the PHET HTML simulation to build our circuits, one circuit will have a 10Ω carbon resistor
(Circuit 1) and another one will have a light bulb with the ‘real bulb‘ option on (Circuit 2). In both
circuits, the voltage of the battery will be increased 8 times; the current and voltage across the
resistor and the bulb will be measured each time. The figures below show how both circuits were
constructed.
Figure 1: Shows the setup of Circuit 1.

Figure 2: Shows the setup for Circuit 2.

Results and Discussion

The tables below show the data recorded for both circuits.

Voltage(V) Current(A) Voltage Uncertainty Current Uncertainty

(u(V ))(V) (u(I ))(A)
4.05 0.40 0.003 0.003
8.09 0.81 0.003 0.003
12.14 1.21 0.003 0.003
16.19 1.62 0.003 0.003
20.23 2.02 0.003 0.003
24.28 2.43 0.003 0.003
28.32 2.83 0.003 0.003
32.37 3.24 0.003 0.003
Table 1: Shows the data recorded for Circuit 1.

Voltage(V) Current(A)
5.01 0.32
11.07 0.58
17.82 0.79
25.10 0.97
32.79 1.12
40.80 1.25
49.06 1.36
57.53 1.46
Table 2: Shows the data recorded for Circuit 2.

The graphs below show the relationship between voltage and current for each circuit respectively.
 Voltage (V) vs. Current (I)
3.5

f(x) = 0.100161851848276 x − 0.00382211984229675

3

2.5

2
Current (I) (In A)

1.5

0.5

0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35

Voltage(V) (In V)

Graph 1: Graph for Circuit 1.

Voltage (V) vs. Current (I)

1.6
f(x) = 0.0208277313091951 x + 0.35730290318334
1.4

1.2

1
Current (I) (In A)

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

Voltage(V) (In V)

Graph 2: Graph for Circuit 2.

Graph 1 shows that voltage and current are directly proportional in Circuit 1. To calculate the
resistance with its associated uncertainty, we used Linear Fit and inputted our voltage on the y-axis
and current on the x-axis, with their weightings. Linear Fit determined the resistance of the resistor
to be 9.98 ± 0.01 Ω.

Using Graph 2 we will approximate the resistance of the light bulb ¿) between 10v and 30V, and
between 80V and 100V. Firstly, we need to approximate the current (I ) for each voltage mentioned
respectively using the graph, thus:

 For 10V - I ≈ 0 , 5 8 A
 For 30V - I ≈ 1 , 12 A

Since the graph does not extend to where the voltage is 100V, we’ll determine the current using the
Best-Fit equation of the graph.

 For 80V - I =0,0208 ( 10 ) +0,3573=0 , 0213 A ≈ 2 ,03 A

 For 100V - I =0,0208 ( 10 0 ) +0,3573=2,4373 A ≈ 2 , 44 A

The approximate resistance for each will be calculated using the inverse of the gradient of the graph.
So, the voltage for each case will be:

30−10
 Between 10V and 30V - R= =37,0370 ≈ 37 ,04 Ω
1.12−0 ,5 8
100−80
 Between 80V and 100V - R= =4847049 ≈ 48 ,78 Ω
2 , 44−2 , 03
Discussion and Conclusion

V
Since we know that on Ohmic elements the ratio of must remain constant and the potential
I
difference (voltage) is directly proportional to the current. On Circuit 1, the above-mentioned
condition is met, therefore it shows that the carbon resistor is an Ohmic element, and its resistance
is equal to 9.98 ± 0.01 Ω. Also Graph 1 shows that the relationship between current and voltage is
directly proportional.

V
Knowing that non-Ohmic elements do not obey ohms law, the ratio of is not constant since the
I
value of the approximate resistance between 10V and 30V is 37,04Ω, and between 80V and 100V is
48,78Ω. The reason for this is that the temperature of the light bulb is not kept constant and with
this being one of the reasons for circuit elements to obey Ohm’s Law. Therefore the light bulb is a
non-Ohmic conductor.