PracticalTheExpandedToolbox/Lab1

Lab1: Measuring volts, current and resistance

Introduction

Taking measurements on a circuit is an essential skill when working with electronics. Even for the simplest problems usually the first checks will be similar to the following:

• is there enough voltage for the circuit to work (dead battery?)
• is there current flowing (loose connection?)
• is the current flowing what you would expect or perhaps more (short circuit?) or much less (loose connection?)

Taking measurements will also give you invaluable and often necessary insights in the working of a circuit. So, for example, to know how long your project will be running on a battery it is necessary to know how much current the circuit uses.

Note: If you are unfamiliar or have forgotten about metric prefixes like mega, kilo, milli, micro etc. please refresh this here: Metric Prefixes and SI Units

Description

In this lab you will use a Digital MultiMeter (DMM) to take measurements in a simple circuit.

* First read the required reading material indicated in the schedule for the Intro into Electronics: PracticalTheExpandedToolbox#Schedule
* Read the SparkFun tutorial on using the a Digital Multi Meter

Measuring Voltage

What you need (ask at the Interaction Station):

* Multimeter
* 9 Volt battery (5V in the tutorial)
* 9 Volt battery clip for in a breadboard
* 470 Ohm resistor (1K Ohm in the tutorial)
* LED

Carry out the SparkFun tutorial section about measuring voltage: https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/how-to-use-a-multimeter#measuring-voltage . Keep track of you measurements and note these down on your WiKi. If you don't know how to use the WiKi yet not them down elsewhere so you can not them on the WiKi after the WiKi introduction.

Note: instead of the 5V breakout board the tutorial uses you are using a 9V battery.

This means your measured values will differ from the results in the tutorial. Your resistor value and LED forward voltage will differ as well.

Important: be careful with your units!! Saying there is a voltage drop of 1 volt (V) across a resistor while you are measuring a millivolt (mV) means you are a 1000 times (3 orders of magnitude) off.

Measuring resistance

What you need (ask at the Interaction Station):

* Multimeter
* 3 random resistors
* 3 resistors of the same value
* breadboard

Resistors come in a wide variety of values, tolerances, wattage and packages. The most common (hobby)resistor is the 1/4 Watt resistor with a tolerance of 5% (meaning the real value of the resistor can be 5% lower or higher than the indicated value). These resistors are usually beige in colour. At the Interaction Station you will probably get resistors that are light blue. These are still 1/4 Watt resistors but have a tolerance of 1%.

Resistors come in specific values determined by their tolerance range. The range for the 5% tolerance is called the E24 range. The E96 range is for the higher precision 1% tolerance range. For an overview of corresponding values and other ranges see for example: http://logwell.com/tech/components/resistor_values.html

The value of a resistor is encoded on the resistor with color bands. You can use a resistor color code calculator like: http://www.allaboutcircuits.com/tools/resistor-color-code-calculator/ Resistors of the E24 range (5% tolerance) have a 4 band marking. The blue resistors of the E96 range have a 5 band marking. Be sure to select the right one (4 or 5 strip in the calculator).

* First try to figure out the values you have been given using the colored bands on the resistors.
* Next carry out the SparkFun tutorial section about measuring resistance: https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/how-to-use-a-multimeter#measuring-resistance
* Are your measurements within the specified tolerance (5% for the beige resistors, 1% for the blue resistors)?

Suggested reading for the following experiments: Resistors in Series and Parallel

Series resistance

* Add three resistors in series
* Calculate the total resistance
* Measure the total resistance, does it agree with the calculated resistance?

Parallel resistance

* Add two equal resistors in parallel
* Calculate the total resistance
* Measure the total resistance, does it agree with the calculated resistance?
* What can you tell about the total resistance? 
* Repeat with the three equal resistors.

* Add the three random resistors in parallel and calculate or measure the total resistance
* What can you tell about the total resistance in relation to the resistances of the individual resistors? (hint: is the total resistor larger or smaller than any of the individual resistances). 

Extra (Optional)

If you know that the resistance of a conductor can be expressed by R = ρ * (l / A) where ρ is called the electrical resistivity and is constant for the specific material of the conductor, l is its length and A is the cross-sectional area. Can you explain the results of your parallel and series measurements?