Lab 1:

Basic Lab Equipment and Voltage and Current Measurement

Daisy Henderson

Introduction:
The purpose of this lab is to become familiar with basic lab equipment that will be used
throughout the course as well as to take voltage and current measurements and what those measurements
represent.
In the lab a voltage source, handheld multi-meter, bread board, and resistors are used. The voltage
source provided the power for the lab, and the two 25 V sources were utilized. The voltage source was
used in every portion of the lab. Alongside the voltage source, a multi-meter was used to take various
readings of the created circuits. A multi-meter can take various readings such as DC and AC current and
voltage, although only DC will be used. The bread board is used to create and test circuits within the lab,
it consists of vertically connected columns which supply power to the circuit, and horizontally connected
rows which is where the circuit is built in.
Resistors are used in the lab when building circuits. The purpose of a resistor is to limit current
and to split current as seen later in the lab. There are numerous types of resistors with varying degrees of
resistance, but they are all measured in Ohms, which is voltage over amperage. Voltage, which is also
known as potential difference, is the measure of an electric field and can be measured by using a
multimeter between two points in a circuit. Current is the flow of electric charge through some medium,
current is measured in amperes which is the flow of electric current by one coulomb per second.

Procedures:
The first portion of the lab was testing voltage coming from the voltage source. First the power
supply was turned on, and the output voltage was set. The multi-meter was first set to measure electric
current in DC, then used to measure between the three outputs, positive, negative, and COM. The two
probe positions were then switched and the results were recorded. The last task of this section was to
provide a 35V output using the power supply.
The next portion of the lab focused on using a breadboard to create a simple circuit. Three
resistors were used with voltages of 100, 33, and 333 ohms, and four wires were also to connect the
=10
circuit.

=33

=333

Figure A. Simple circuit using 3 different resistors, with a power source from B to A.

Figure B. The circuit as seen above when put into a bread board. Each resistor is color coded to represent
their resistance.

The third portion of the lab dealt with using the circuit built in the previous section on the
breadboard. A voltage with a total of 7 was applied between point A and point B in the circuit using the
power source, to determine the total voltage the equation Vab = Va Vb was used and it was determined
that the output from the positive component should be set at 7V and the output from the negative
component would be set to 0V. Then, the positive, negative, and COM output lines were connected firmly
to the breadboard and two wires were connected to the positive and negative output and the other end was
connect to the corresponding opening in the breadboard. After setting up the power source the subsequent
voltage across each resistor was measured using the multi-meter set to the DC voltage setting by
connecting one prong of the multi-meter to either side of the resistor. For the second piece, the current
that passes through each element of the circuit was measured. To do this, the multi-meter had to be set to
measure amperes in DC. Then the current path to an element had to be disconnected and the meter must
be inserted into the path of the current. The current passing through each element and the current of the
voltage source was all measured and recorded.

Results:
Voltage difference between outputs
Outputs used
Positive and COM
Negative and COM
Positive and Negative
Voltage Difference
5.023V
2.980V
8.010V
Table 1: This table demonstrates the difference in voltage when the +25V source is set to 5V and the
-25V source is set to 3V, and the result was measured with a multi-meter.
Measuring Voltage and Current
Resistor
100
33
333
Total Circuit
Voltage
5.360V
1.625V
1.625V
7V
Current
.055A
.053A
.016A
1.001A
Table 2: This table shows the measured value of each resistor and the total circuit in volts and amps. The
meter had to be changed to measured amps after all the measurements for voltage were taken.

Conclusion:
For the first section of the lab, the values as given by the multi-meter are accurate, the total of
both the negative and positive components is 8.010V and the power source was set to supply 8V. The
totals of the other two measured components; 5.023 V between positive and COM and 2.980 V between
negative and COM are also feasible since the positive and negative outputs were set to 5V and 3V
respectively. The small amount of error can be attributed to the power supply, because while it is accurate
in its output, it cant be perfect. By switching the position of the probes, the resulting measurement of
voltage becomes negative, this is because the multi-meter is reading the current in the opposite direction,
which results in the same number, but flipped sign. To provide 35 V using the power supply, the positive
25 output must be turned to 25 V and the negative 25 output must be turned to -10V to accomplish the
total voltage.
The next component of the experiment was working with a breadboard to configure a given
circuit. It was important to note which resistor was which, to make sure that they would not get mixed up
and the results would not be skewed. When the breadboard was connecting to the power source it was
important to make sure the wires connecting the board to the power source were firmly in place and
connected accurately, or else the circuit would not be completed and the multi-meter would not be able to
get a measurement.
When measuring the voltage between the resistors when 7V was supplied it was found that the
33 resistor and the 333 resistors measured values were equal. This is because the two resistors are in

parallel with each other. Then it is seen that the voltage of the 100 resistor added to the voltage of one of
the resistors in parallel is equal to 6.985V, which is very close to the input of seven volts, this small loss
can be attributed to small fluctuations with the equipment or voltage lost in the wires. When measuring
amperage, the current between the two resistors in parallel should be equal to the resistor that is not in
parallel. In this case, the total of the 2 parallel resistors is .069A and the value of the other resistor is .
055A. This difference can be attributed to the resistance of the wire and the internal resistance of the
power source and meter.