PracticalTheExpandedToolbox/Lab1
Contents
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
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.
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.
Important: be careful with your units!! Saying there is an Ampere (A) of current flowing through a circuit while you are measuring a milli Ampere (mA) means you are a 1000 (3 orders of magnitude) times off.
