Lab report on Practical 4: Ohms Law Or

Not?
Liam Huijgens
MP4b
Mrs. Cesari
Physics.
Background information:
Current is the product of the free flow of electrons. A conductor, like metal, can allow for
electron flow because of the Electron Gas theory. The electron gas theory states that the outer
shell electrons delocalize from the parent atom and form a cloud of electrons within the
metallic structure. This phenomenon allows the metal atoms to bond, and it also allows for
electrical conduction.

Within a circuit, there are three main properties that are interrelated. Those properties are
Current, Voltage and Resistance. They are related to each other through the equation as
follows:
()
() =
()

In essence, resistance is a measurement of how much work is required per unit charge
(Voltage) to move a number of electrons (Current) through a circuit. Increasing the Resistance
will require a larger voltage to give the same current.
 Figure 1. Representation of factors in an
electrical circuit
The equation clearly shows that if the resistance is kept constant that Voltage and Current are
linearly proportional. This is the basis of Ohms Law, which states that Current is proportional
to PD under the condition that temperature is constant. A change in temperature will result in
a change in resistance. A Ohmic relation is linear, while a non Ohmic relation is curved.
Metal conductors mostly follow Ohms law, however not all metals. An example of a non-Ohmic
metal is Tungsten, commonly found as tungsten filament.
Another example of a non-Ohmic conductor is a semiconductor diode.
Research question:
What is the effect of Voltage change on the Current given two resistors and one bulb?

Variables:
Independent The variable that you The number of Volts
manipulate provided to the circuit. As
well as Resistance.
Dependent What you measure Current measured as well as
Voltage measured.
Controlled Other factors that affect the Resistors given (OHM)
outcome

Hypothesis:
I think that the Current-Voltage relationship will be linear for the resistors and non linear for
the bulb, because the two resistors will have a constant temperature and thus follow Ohms law
while the bulb will not. The bulbs will not follow Ohms law because its temperature will
increase, and as a result increasing its resistance. Current and voltage are temperature
dependent because of the electron gas theory. The Electron gas theory is a model explaining
the behavior of the outer electrons (valence electrons) of a metal atom. In a metal solid, one
can imagine the electrons as a cloud of negative charge that fills up the metal structure. The
delocalized nature of the electrons allows for current flow. An increase in voltage, means an
increase of work done per unit charge, so the current will increase proportionally to this
increase of work done per electron (fig.1). However, an increase of temperature of the
conductor results in the atoms vibrating with larger amplitudes. In essence, the increased
vibrational amplitude of the atoms acts as more of an obstacle to the electrons, therefore,
increasing the resistance. Incandescent bulbs work on the basis of sending current through a
thin coiled wire, this in turn increases the temperature, which in turn increases resistance.
Method:

1. Make sure the power supply is switched off

2. Wire up the circuit in accordance to this design:

3. Ensure that the positive end of the Ampere meter starts off at the 0.05A mark, and that it will
be adjusted to the 0.5A or 5A mark should the amount of Voltage surpass the boundaries given
at each mark.
4. Set the voltmeter to 20 V
5. Turn the power supply knob as far left as possible
6. Turn on the power supply (it should show a voltage not far above 1V)
7. Measure the Current and Voltage
8. Note down the results in the table.
9. Adjust the knob to the next mark given on the power supply.
10. Repeat steps 7 and 8 until it reaches the 7 volts mark on the power supply.
11. Shut the power supply off.
12. Adjust the circuit so that it goes through resistor 2 instead of resistor 1.
13. Repeat steps 3, 5 and 6
14. Repeat step 10 and 11
15. Adjust the circuit so that it goes through the light bulb instead of resistor 2
16. Repeat step 3, 5 and 6
17. Repeat step 7 and 8 until it reaches the 12 volt mark on the power supply
18. In a graph, plot current along the Y axis and Voltage along the X axis for both resistors and
the bulb.
19. Lastly, insert trendline for all graphs.
Materials:

Ammerter
Adjustable power supply
Volt meter
Insertable Wires
Two resistors
One light bulb

Results:
Raw data:
Resistor 1 Resistor 2 Resistor 3
Voltage Current Voltage Current Voltage Current
(V) (A) (V) (A) (V) (A)
1.4 0.006 1.25 0.0125 1.28 0.035
0.045
2.08 0.0095 2.00 0.021 2.09

2.94 0.014 2.87 0.030 3.03 0.055

3.8 0.018 4.00 0.041 4.02 0.065

5.00
0.0235 5.08 0.050 5.18 0.075
0.080
5.91 0.028 6.09 0.060 6.08
0.0325
7.00 7.2 0.070 7.15 0.09
8.16
0.10

9.44 0.105

10.33 0.11

11.2 0.12

12.28 0.13
Processed Data

Current vs Voltage resistor 1 (Graph 1)

0.035

0.03

0.025
Current (I)

0.02

0.015

0.01

0.005

0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Voltage (V)

Current vs Voltage resistor 2 (Graph 2)

0.08

0.07

0.06

0.05
Current (I)

0.04

0.03

0.02

0.01

0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Voltage (V)
 Current vs Voltage Bulb (Graph 3)
0.14

0.12

0.1
Current (I)

0.08

0.06

0.04

0.02

0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14
Voltage (V)

Trends:

For both Graph 1 and Graph 2 there is a clear linear proportional trend between the voltage and the
current. Graph 3 depicting the Voltage-Current relationship for the bulb is also relatively linear,
however, it has a slight curve downwards.
Conclusion

- Start of by talking about trends and how this relates to the hypothesis draw the conclusion
use background information to back this up
- Discuss the strange results and possible outliers.

From the graphs and processed data we could argue that the experiment is not entirely supportive of
the hypothesis stated. Although, the both resistors showed a clear Ohmic behavior with the linear trend
lines on their graphs, the bulb did not show a clear non-ohmic behavior. Graph 3, depicting the bulb,
appears to show a slight curve in the trend line, however, one could argue that the curve is insignificant
given that errors and uncertainties could also be the cause of the slight curve. Since the bulb follows an
ohmic relation rather than a non-ohmic relation we have to suggest that the there was not a significant
temperature change with the bulb and that as a result the resistance of the did not change. No
temperature change would mean that the vibrational amplitude of the metal atoms did not change and
thus leaving the increased current flow unobstructed. Nevertheless, one could also assert that human
error had a role to play in the experiment resulting in skewed results for the bulb data.

Evaluation

a) How reliable was your method?

a. Were you able to collect sufficient reliable data?
i. The method would have benefitted from more resistors and light bulbs to test.
This would help give a more concrete answer to the hypothesis.
b. Did you select the correct apparatus /measuring instrument?
i. The apparatus was conducive to
c.
b) And how valid was your method?
a. Was it a fair test?
i. Human error when it came to the measurement of the voltage. Next time make
sure voltage measurement is more accurate.

An explanation of the processing of your data.
-The bulb did not have a drastic effect on the current, but the heat generated
from the bulb did produce a change which made it
Conclusion + Discussion
-draw conclusion based on data
-explain this conclusion based on your hypothesis and background information
(dont just state My hypothesis was right)
-Discuss the overall quality of the data, including strange results.
Evaluation.
-harder than conclusion (see handbook)
-discuss limitations and improvements of the experiment. It might be handy to
use a table format.
- You are evaluating your data, materials and procedure
- suggestions should be made for further research?
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Figure 1. How an electric circuit works.