Computer

22

Ohms Law

The fundamental relationship among the three important electrical quantities current, voltage, and
resistance was discovered by Georg Simon Ohm. The relationship and the unit of electrical
resistance were both named for him to commemorate this contribution to physics. One statement
of Ohms law is that the current through a resistor is proportional to the voltage across the
resistor. In this experiment you will see if Ohms law is applicable to several different circuits
using a Current Probe and a Voltage Probe.
Current and voltage can be difficult to understand, because they cannot be observed directly. To
clarify these terms, some people make the comparison between electrical circuits and water
flowing in pipes. Here is a chart of the three electrical units we will study in this experiment.
Electrical Quantity
Voltage or Potential
Difference
Current
Resistance

Description

Unit

A measure of the Energy

Volt (V)
difference per unit charge
between two points in a
circuit.
A measure of the flow of
Ampere (A)
charge in a circuit.
A measure of how difficult Ohm ()
it is for current to flow in
a circuit.

Water Analogy
Water Pressure

Amount of water
flowing
A measure of how
difficult it is for water
to flow through a pipe.

Figure 1

Physics with Vernier

22 - 1

Computer 22

OBJECTIVES
Determine the mathematical relationship between current, potential difference, and
resistance in a simple circuit.

Compare the potential vs. current behavior of a resistor to that of a light bulb.

MATERIALS
Computer
Vernier computer interface
Logger Pro
one Vernier Current Probe and
one Vernier Differential Voltage Probe
Power Amplifier

Vernier Circuit Board, or

Wires
clips to hold wires
two resistors (about 1 and 100 )
Light bulb (6V)

PROCEDURE
1. Open the file 22 Ohms Law in the Physics with Vernier folder. A graph of potential
vs. current will be displayed. The meter displays potential and current readings.
2. Connect the Current Probe to Channel 1 and the Differential Voltage Probe to Channel
2 of the computer interface. Connect the audio jack of the power amplifier to the
speaker jack of the Lab Quest
3. With the power amplifier turned off, connect the power amplifier, 100 resistor,
wires, and clips as shown in Figure 1. Take care that the positive lead from the power
amplifier and the red terminal from the Current & Voltage Probe are connected as
shown in Figure 1. Note: Attach the red connectors electrically closer to the positive
side of the power supply.
4. Have your teacher check the arrangement of the wires before proceeding.
5. Open the Sensor Set up Window. Click on the Power Amplifier icon. Set voltage to
DC (Direct Current). Set the voltage to 0 V and then turn on the power amplifier.
6. Click
. A dialog box will appear. Click
to zero both sensors. This sets
the zero for both probes with no current flowing and with no voltage applied.
7. Click
graph.

to begin data collection. Click

8. Increase the voltage to approximately 1 V. Click

9. Increase again the voltage by about 1 V. Click
reach a voltage of 5 V.
10. Click

to save the first point of your

.
. Repeat this process until you

and set the voltage back to 0 V.

11. Click the Linear Fit button, . Record the slope and y-intercept of the regression line
in the data table, along with their units.
22 - 2

Physics with Vernier

Ohms Law
12. Save a copy of your graph and your file. Use Save as. Select Erase and
continue the next time you start collecting data.
13. With the power amplifier off, replace the 100 resistor with the 1 resistor.
14. Turn the power amplifier again and repeat steps 3 12 using the 1 resistor.
CAUTION: This time increase the voltage from 0 to 1 V in steps of 0.2 V
15. With the power amplifier off, replace the resistor with the light bulb provided to you
16. Turn the power amplifier again and repeat steps 3-10 with the light bulb. Use steps of
0.6 until you reach 6 V.
17. Take a picture of the light bulb under the same camera conditions for 0, 1.8, 4.2 and 6
V.
18. Use the first three points of your graph to find the slope of the graph. Also, use the last
3 points of your graph to find the slope of the graph. Record these values in the table.

DATA TABLE
1. Fill the following table with the data collected with your experiment. Include this table in the
results section of your report
Slope of regression
line (V/A)

Y-intercept of regression
line (V)

Resistor

1.0

0.9716

-0.001872

Resistor

100

97.11

0.01112

Light bulb (first 3 pts)

9.067

Light bulb (last 3 pts)

21.80

Physics with Vernier

22 - 3

Computer 22
This graph shows relationship of potential difference and electric current when resistance = 1.0

This graph shows relationship of potential difference and electric current when resistance = 100

22 - 4

Physics with Vernier

Ohms Law

This graph shows relationship of potential difference and electric current when the circuit connected
with light bulb, and shows the slope of 3 first points and the slope of 3 last points.

2. Include in your lab report the pictures of the light bulb under different voltages. Under the
picture include the voltage and power used in each case. Use the voltages and currents that you
recorded in your data files. (Power = Voltage * Current).

ANALYSIS
As the potential across the resistor increased, the current through the resistor increased. If the
change in current is proportional to the voltage, the data should be in a straight line and it
should go through zero.
1. In these two examples how close is the y-intercept to zero?
Ans

Very close, the y-intercept when resistor = 1.0, is -0.001872, and y-intercept =
0.0112 when resistor is 100 .

2. What do the slopes of your graphs represent (Graph: Voltage vs. Current)? Are those the
values that you would expect?
Ans

Slope in this case is value of resister because y-axis represents a voltage while xaxis represents a current. Slope of the graph that through zero is voltage/Current

Physics with Vernier

22 - 5

Computer 22
so it is resistance following this equation R = V/I. So the result shows the slopes
values are close to values of resistor as we expect.
3. Do your resistors follow Ohms law? Base your answer on your experimental data.
Ans

According to R = V/I equation that shows relationship of resistance, potential

difference and electric current. Our resistors follow Ohms law which present by
the values of slope (V/I) are so close with values of resistors.

4. If you wanted to operate each resistor at the same current of 0.5 A, at what voltage would
you have to operate each resistor?
Ans

If value of the resistor increase, the voltage should be increase and if value of the
resistor decrease, the voltage should be decrease. We can use this equation V = IR

5. Describe what happened to the current through the light bulb as the voltage increased.
Was the change linear? Since the slope of the linear regression line is a measure of
resistance, describe what happened to the resistance as the voltage increased.
6. Since the light bulb gets brighter as it gets hotter, how does the resistance vary with
temperature?
7. Does your light bulb follow Ohms law? Base your answer on your experimental data.

22 - 6

Physics with Vernier