Circuits Lab Report

Introduction

In this lab, we wanted to answer the lesson question, “How do changes in voltage or resistance

affect current in an electric circuit?” We set up two different labs, one in which the independent

variable was voltage and the resistance as a constant, and another where the independent variable

was resistance and voltage was constant. In both cases, current was the dependent variable. We

hypothesized that the experiment would follow with Ohm’s Law, where current is directly

proportional to voltage and inversely proportional to resistance.

Materials and Procedure

Step 1: Open the simulation.

a) Be sure to follow all the directions provided in the lab guide as well as on screen

during the virtual lab.

b) Open the Gizmo “Circuits,” and familiarize yourself with the controls. Locate the

components that you will drag and drop into place, the meters, the buttons for current,

and the voltage slider.

c) Once you have familiarized yourself with the Gizmo, continue to Step 2 for the

experimental setup.

Step 2: Examine current as voltage changes using a series circuit.

a) Create a circuit on the blue virtual circuit board. Click the switch to turn it off. Use a

20 Ω resistor in the circuit and place an ammeter in the circuit.

b) Select “Show current” and then click the “Conventional” button. This will allow you

to visualize current flow.

using the slider. Set the voltage initially to 1.

d) Use Ohm’s law to calculate the theoretical current expected for the following voltages:

1, 5, 10, 20, and 50 V. Record your results to two decimal places in Table A.

e) Click the switch on your circuit to turn it on.

f) Check the reading of the ammeter in the lower left of the Gizmo. Record the current in

Table A. Use the slider to select the other voltages and assess the resulting currents.

Record all results in Table A.

Step 3: Examine current as resistance changes using a series circuit.

a) Examine the effect of changing resistance in the circuit. First, use Ohm’s law to

calculate the theoretical current, using a voltage of 25 V and each of the four available

resistors. Record your calculations in Table B.

b) Use the slider to set the voltage to 25 V. Record the actual current using the 20 Ω

resistor.

c) Test the other three resistors, 10, 100, and 200 Ω, by dragging each one to the circuit to

change the resistance. Record the resulting currents in Table B.

Step 4: Examine current in a parallel circuit by varying voltage and resistance.

a) Now that you have gathered data to address your hypotheses, construct a parallel

circuit to examine the effects on current. Use 20 Ω resistors, a voltage of 25 V, and turn

the switch off as shown in Figure 3.

b) Calculate the total resistance in the circuit. Total resistance in a parallel circuit can be

calculated as 1/R = 1/R1 + 1/R2 + … where R1, R2, etc. are the resistances of each

component. Record the total resistance in Table C.

calculated current in Table C.

d) Click the switch to turn on the circuit. Place the ammeter at different points along the

circuit. Record your observations of current in Table C. Then place the ammeter back at

the original point in the circuit as indicated in Figure 3.

e) Calculate the total resistance if you switch one of the resistors to 200 Ω, and record it

in Table C.

f) Use the total resistance and voltage to calculate the expected current. Record it in Table

C.

g) Drag a 200 Ω resister to replace one of the 20 Ω resistors, and then record the observed

current in Table C.

h) To achieve a current of 3.75 A while using the 20, 20, and 200 Ω resistors, what does

the voltage need to change to? Use Ohm’s law to calculate this new voltage and record it

in Table C.

i) Test your calculation by moving the voltage slider. At what voltage is a current closest

to 3.75 achieved? Record your observation in Table C.

Step 5: Calculate power used by components in a circuit.

a) Switch off the circuit and replace the resistors with light bulbs as shown in Figure 4.

Set the voltage to 10 V using the slider.

b) Switch on the circuit and record the current in Table D. Use the ammeter to test the

current flowing through each light bulb and record the value in Table D.
 c) Calculate the power used by an individual bulb in the circuit. Power can be calculated

by the formula P = IV where P is power in watts, I is current in amps, and V is voltage.

Record the power in watts for a single bulb in the circuit in Table D.

Data

- on a physical piece of paper, not here

Analysis and Conclusion

In the first experiment, we altered voltage while keeping resistance constant, and found

that current varies proportionally to voltage. More voltage creates more current, following with

our hypothesis and Ohm’s Law. In our second experiment, we found that a greater resistance

results in less current when voltage is kept constant.