LABORATORY 4: CURRENT MEASUREMENT FOR PARALLEL AND SERIES CIRCUITS

Name: _________________ Date: ________________

Course/Sec: ____________ Rating: _______________

I. Laboratory Objectives:
1. In this lab the student will analyze, construct, and test a simple circuit to measure the current at each
node or branch of a given circuit.
2. To provide the students with hands-on experience in breadboarding resistive circuits.

II. Laboratory Materials:
Analog/Digital Multimeter
Resistors
Power Supply
Connecting Wires
Breadboard

III. Key Concepts:
Characteristics of a Series Circuit
The current is the same everywhere in a series circuit.
The total resistance is equal to the sum of the individual resistance values.
The total voltage is equal to the sum of the IR voltage drops across the individual
resistances.
The total power is equal to the sum of the power dissipated by each resistance.
Current is the movement of electric charge between two points, produced by the
applied voltage.
The free electrons moving away from one point are continuously replaced by free
electrons flowing from an adjacent point in the series circuit.
All electrons have the same speed as those leaving the voltage source.
Therefore, I is the same in all parts of a series circuit.

Example of IR voltage drops V1 and V2 in a series circuit.











Characteristics of a Parallel Circuit
Voltage is the same across each branch in a parallel circuit.
The total current is equal to the sum of the individual branch currents.
The equivalent resistance (R
EQ
) is less than the smallest branch resistance. The term
equivalent resistance refers to a single resistance that would draw the same amount of
current as all of the parallel connected branches.
Total power is equal to the sum of the power dissipated by each branch resistance.
A parallel circuit is formed when two or more components are connected across the
same two points.
The current in a parallel circuit equals the voltage applied across the circuit divided by
the resistance between the two points where the voltage is applied.
Each path for current in a parallel circuit is called a branch. Each branch current equals
V/R where V is the same across all branches.











IV. Laboratory Procedure:
1. Construct the connections as per circuit diagram.
2. Check your connections before switching on the supply.
3. Vary the regulated supply.
4. Measure the current using ammeter.
5. Note the readings in the tabulation table.
6. Compare the measured value to theoretical value.

Circuit Diagram 1.
Resistor
Value
Measured
Current
Theoretical
Current
R1
R2
R3
R4
R5

Circuit Diagram 2.
Resistor
Value
Measured
Current
Theoretical
Current
R1
R2
R3
R4

Circuit Diagram 3.
Resistor
Value
Measured
Current
Theoretical
Current
R1
R2
R3
R4
R5
R6

Circuit Diagram 4.
Resistor
Value
Measured
Current
Theoretical
Current
R1
R2
R3

V. LABORATORY OBSERVATION AND CONCLUSION: