Thickness of wire and Voltage
Purpose
To determine the factors that affect the strength of electrical forces.
Materials
 Small light bulb
 Light bulb holder
 Size D battery
 Voltmeter
 Copper wire with various thickness
Procedure
1. Connect the thin wire to the light bulb holder and the battery
2. Set the voltmeter on 200Ω and find the voltage by touching the leads to the light bulb holder
3. Set the voltmeter to 10A and move the red lead to the first hole (says 10A above it) and find
the current by touching the leads to the light bulb
4. Repeat steps 1-3 with the medium and thick wire
5. Mathematically calculate the voltage using the formula V=IR
Data
Wire Thickness
Voltage
Current
Thin
Medium
Thick
Analysis
1. Mathematically calculate the voltage using the formula V=IR
2. What patterns did you observe?
3. How does the thickness of the wire affect the voltage?
Resistance
Type of wire and Resistance
Purpose
To determine the factors that affect the strength of electrical forces.
Materials
 Small light bulb
 Light bulb holder
 Size D battery
 Voltmeter
 Copper wire
 Aluminum wire
 Nyleze wire
Procedure
1. Connect the thin wire to the light bulb holder and the battery
2. Set the voltmeter on 9v BAT and find the voltage by touching the leads to the light bulb holder
3. Set the voltmeter to 10A and move the red lead to the first hole (says 10A above it) and find
the current by touching the leads to the light bulb
4. Repeat steps 1-3 with the medium and thick wire
5. Mathematically calculate the resistance using the formula R=V/I
Data
Type of Wire
Voltage
Current
Copper
Nyleze
Aluminum
Analysis
1. Mathematically calculate the resistance using the formula R=V/I
2. What patterns did you observe?
3. How does the type of the wire affect the resistance?
Resistance
Length of wire and current
Purpose
To determine the factors that affect the strength of electrical forces.
Materials
 Small light bulb
 Light bulb holder
 Size D battery
 Voltmeter
 Aluminum wire (of different lengths)
Procedure
1. Connect the thin wire to the light bulb holder and the battery
2. Set the voltmeter on 9v BAT and find the voltage by touching the leads to the light bulb holder
3. Set the voltmeter on 200Ω and find the voltage by touching the leads to the light bulb holder
4. Repeat steps 1-3 with the medium and thick wire
5. Mathematically calculate the current using the formula I=V/R
Data
Length of Wire
Voltage
Current
Short
Medium
Long
Analysis
1. Mathematically calculate the current using the formula I=V/R
2. What patterns did you observe?
3. How does the length of the wire affect the current?
Resistance
Batteries and Resistance
Purpose
To determine the factors that affect the strength of electrical forces.
Materials
 Small light bulb
 Light bulb holder
 3 Size D battery
 Voltmeter
Procedure
1. Connect the thin wire to the light bulb holder and the battery
2. Set the voltmeter on 9v BAT and find the voltage by touching the leads to the light bulb holder
3. Set the voltmeter to 10A and move the red lead to the first hole (says 10A above it) and find
the current by touching the leads to the light bulb
4. Repeat steps 1-3 with the medium and thick wire
5. Mathematically calculate the resistance using the formula R=V/I
Data
Number of
Batteries
Voltage
Current
1
2
3
Analysis
1. Mathematically calculate the resistance using the formula R=V/I
2. What patterns did you observe?
3. How does the number of batteries affect the resistance?
Resistance