Justin Geeslin
Eng Physics II - M 1:00
Experiment Four – Series and Parallel Circuits
Introduction
There are two main types of circuits. One type is a series circuit, in which, all components are placed one after another. The other type is a parallel circuit. In this type, components are placed one on top of another. In this formation the current will fork across the components, whereas, in series the same current would travel across all the components in the system.
Procedure
In this experiment, the components will be different resistors. In the first test, a series circuit will be constructed using two resistors of 10 ohms. All resistors in this experiment have tolerance of 5%. Once constructed with charge running through both resistors in series, use the probes to measure the voltage around the first resistor and record the data. Also, record the data for the second resistor using the probes. The summation of the two voltages will be the total voltage for the circuit (VTOT). Likewise, the sum of the two resistors in ohms will be the total resistance (REQ). The computer will give the total amperes in the circuit. This process will be repeated for the next two sets of resistors. The following sets of resistors are also in series. Record the data using a 10 ohm resistor in conjunction with a 50 ohm resistor. Then, use two 50 ohm resistors to record the total resistance, voltage, and amps. Data for the series circuits should be as follows:
|
|
R1 |
R2 |
I (A) |
V1 |
V2 |
REQ |
VTOT |
|
1 |
10 |
10 |
0.15 |
1.5 |
1.5 |
20 |
3 |
|
2 |
10 |
50 |
0.05 |
0.5 |
2.6 |
64 |
3.2 |
|
3 |
50 |
50 |
0.03 |
1.5 |
1.5 |
106 |
3.2 |
The next part includes making a circuit, in which, two resistors are in parallel. This means that the total voltage will be equal to the voltage around the resistors. To prove this, again, record the voltage around both resistors (V1, V2, etc.) beginning with two 50 ohm resistors. This value will be the total voltage in the circuit (VTOT). Also the REQ will not be the sum of the two resistors since they are parallel. The resistance can, in this case, be calculated by V \ I. This process will be repeated again with one 50 and one 68 ohm resistor and again with two 68 ohm resistors. Data should be as follows:
|
|
R1 |
R2 |
I (A) |
V1 |
V2 |
REQ |
VTOT |
|
1 |
50 |
50 |
0.1 |
3 |
3 |
30 |
3 |
|
2 |
50 |
68 |
0.1 |
3 |
3 |
30 |
3 |
|
3 |
68 |
68 |
0.09 |
3 |
3 |
33 |
3 |