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Using Ohm’s
Law to Build a
Voltage Divider
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2
Learning Objectives
 Understand
and demonstrate the
engineering design process
 Use
Ohm's Law as a tool for engineering
design.
 Use
a digital multimeter to collect data.
 Analyze
the electrical requirements of light
emitting diodes (LED’s).
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A Voltage Divider
A
voltage is applied to
two resistors in series
 The
same amount of
current flows through
each resistor
 Voltage
is divided
between R1 and R2
 Ohm’s
Law
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Getting Started
Divide
into Teams - Engineers
work with Teachers
Review
the materials
Challenge
#1: Voltage Divider
Challenge
#2: Light an LED
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Challenge #1
 Learning
to read resistor
values
 Using
a breadboard to build
an example voltage divider
 Build
a voltage divider to
meet a design requirement
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Challenge #2
 Design
your circuit - What voltage and
current are required by the LED?
 Build
your circuit - What is the polarity of
your LED?
 Test
your design. Did you get the desired
voltage and current? What is the voltage
across the LED
 Try
a different design goal
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Reflections
 What
factors affected your design
 Measured
vs Specified Battery Voltage
 Measured vs Specified Resistance
 Teaching
the Math Concepts
 Solving
Simultaneous Equations
 Trial and Error
 Modifications
to the lesson for your grade
 Incorporating
the lesson into our classroom
level