Series and Parallel Circuits Laboratory Experiment for Physics 112L, Spring 2008, Lab Reports of Physics

Download Series and Parallel Circuits Laboratory Experiment for Physics 112L, Spring 2008 and more Lab Reports Physics in PDF only on Docsity! Phys 112L Spring 2008 Laboratory 6: Series and Parallel Circuits The concepts of conservation of charge and energy can be applied to understand circuit operation in terms of currents and potential differences across various circuit elements. In particular these provide predictions about currents through and poten- tial differences across devices connected in series and parallel. In the following set of experiments you will work with a set of three different resistors connected in various ways. 1 Resistors in Series a) Select three different resistors and measure their resistance using a multimeter on the “Ohms” setting. Note: the multimeter has its own power supply for measur- ing resistance. Simply connect the terminals to the isolated resistor. Record the resistance of each resistor. b) Choose two resistors and connect them in a series circuit together with a switch and a battery. Ensure that the switch is open. Draw a circuit diagram that represents this. c) Predict the currents through and the potential differences across the resistors. Pre- dict the current through the battery. d) Close the switch and measure all the currents and potential differences that you predicted above. In each case determine the percentage difference between the theoretical and measured quantities. 2 Resistors in Parallel a) Choose two resistors and connect them in a parallel circuit together with a switch and a battery. Ensure that the switch is open. Draw a circuit diagram that represents this. b) Predict the currents through and the potential differences across the resistors. Pre- dict the current through the battery. c) Close the switch and measure all the currents and potential differences that you predicted above. In each case determine the percentage difference between the theoretical and measured quantities. 3 Resistors in Parallel/Series a) Choose three resistors and connect two in a parallel circuit and a third in series with this and a switch and a battery. Ensure that the switch is open. Draw a circuit diagram that represents this.