V-I Characteristics of a Wire, a Light

Bulb and a Diode

Figure 1

Introduction
In this experiment we measure the V-I characteristics of various electrical
components. The measurements are done manually at first and then by automatic
“scanning” of voltage using a sinusoidal voltage generator.

158 V-I Characteristics of a Wire, a Light Bulb and a Diode

Equipment
• Metal wire stretched on a ruler
• Light bulb (3.5 V)
• Diode.
• 1.5 V battery
• 1.5 V battery holder
• Rheostat (∼15Ω)
• Signal generator
• MultiLogPRO or Nova or TriLink data logger
• Voltage sensor ±2.5 V (or ±25 V)
• Current sensor ±2.5 A

Equipment Setup Procedure

1. Connect the data logger to the serial port of the computer

2. Turn on the data logger

3. Connect the Current sensor to the I/O 1 port of the data logger

4. Connect the Voltage sensor to the I/O 2 port of the data logger

Voltage
+ Wire + sensor

− Current
To input 2
of MultiLog
sensor
− +

To input 1
of MultiLog

Figure 2

5. Assemble the electric circuit as shown by figure 1: connect the

rheostat as a potentiometer, connect the Current sensor and the
metallic wire in series with the battery, then connect the Voltage
sensor parallel to the wire. You can choose to work with one 1.5

V-I Characteristics of a Wire, a Light Bulb and a Diode 159

 V battery or with three batteries according to the Voltage sensor
available to you (See figures 1 and 2).

6. Click Setup Wizard on the main toolbar and program the

data logger according to the setup specified below

Initial Data Logger Setup

Sensors:
Input 1: Current ± 2.5A
Input 2: Voltage ± 2.5V (or ±25V)

Rate:
Manual

Recording time:
10 samples

Experimental procedure

1. Click Edit graph on the graph toolbar

2. Select Input 1: Current in the X-axis list and Input 2: Voltage in

the Y-axis list, then click OK

3. Click Run on the upper toolbar to begin recording data

4. Collect the data manually: Click Run on the upper toolbar

each time you wish to record a data sample.

You can also push the Enter button on

Note to MultiLogPRO users:
MultiLogPRO to collect data manually.

5. Place the sliding terminal of the rheostat in a low voltage

position and record the first data sample

6. Change the potential difference between the terminals of the

wire, begin with lower values and gradually increase the voltage.
After each change record the data. Do not measure currents
higher than 2.5 A.

160 V-I Characteristics of a Wire, a Light Bulb and a Diode

 Figure 3

7. After logging ends, click Add to Project on the graph

toolbar

8. Save the project

9. Remove the rheostat and replace the batteries with a signal

generator (see figure 4 in the next page)

10. Select a sinusoidal signal, frequency 0.3 Hz and make sure that
the voltage output does not exceed the range of the sensor (you
can check this as you start the experiment by verifying that the
graph of the voltage has a sinusoidal form).

V-I Characteristics of a Wire, a Light Bulb and a Diode 161

 Figure 4

11. Program the data logger according to the setup specified below

Second Data Logger Setup

Sensors:
Input 1: Current ± 2.5A
Input 2: Voltage ± 2.5V (or ±25V)

Rate:
100 samples per second

Recording time:
5s (500 samples)

162 V-I Characteristics of a Wire, a Light Bulb and a Diode

Experimental Procedure (continued)

1. Click Run on the upper toolbar to begin recording data

2. After logging ends, click Add to Project on the graph

toolbar
MultiLab creates default names for each graph that you add to the project. To change the name

click Edit graph , enter a new name in the Graph title edit box, then click OK

3. Save the project

4. Repeat the experiment with different lengths of wire. Record in

your notebook the length of wire for each experiment. After each

experiment click Add to Project on the graph toolbar, then

click Save to save the new experiment to the project

5. Replace the wire with a diode and repeat the experiment. Save
the results.

6. Replace the diode with the light bulb and repeat the experiment.
Save the results.

Data Analysis
1. Analyze the results for the metallic wire:

1.a. Display one of the wire characteristic graphs by double-click its

icon in the Data Map

1.b. Click Linear fit on the main toolbar. The fit equation will
be displayed in the information bar at the bottom of the graph
window. The value of the slope is the resistance of the wire.
Record this value in your notebook

2. Repeat this procedure with all lengths of the wire and use the
Capture tool to create a graph of resistance vs. wire-length:

V-I Characteristics of a Wire, a Light Bulb and a Diode 163

 2.a. Click Table on the menu bar, then click Capture

2.b. Click Insert manual column, enter title (e.g. Length) and unit,
and then click OK

2.c. Repeat step b for the resistance data

2.d. Click OK

2.e. Click the first cell in the capture table and enter your data. Use
the arrow keys on the keyboard to move to other cells and fill
the two columns

2.f. Click Edit graph on the graph toolbar

2.g. Select Capture 1: Length in the X-axis list and Capture 2:

Resistance in the Y-axis list, then click OK

2.h. Discuss the resulting graph

3. Analyze the diode characteristics:

3.a. Display diode characteristic graph by double-click its icon in the

Data Map

3.b. Use the edit graph tool to display a graph of both the diode’s
current and voltage vs. time (see figures 5 and 6). Answer the
following questions:

3.c. What is the resistance of the diode in each voltage polarity?

3.d. What is the meaning of the constant value of the voltage when
the current is positive?

164 V-I Characteristics of a Wire, a Light Bulb and a Diode

 Figure 5

Figure 6

4. Analyze the light bulb characteristics:

4.a. Display the bulb characteristics graph by double-click its icon in

the Data Map. Answer the following questions:

4.b. Why isn’t the graph linear (see Figure 7)?

4.c. What is the effect of heat on the bulb’ resistance?

4.d. Try to explain why the graph looks like a loop

4.e. What is the expected effect of increasing the frequency of the

voltage source? Perform an experiment with higher frequency

V-I Characteristics of a Wire, a Light Bulb and a Diode 165

 Figure 7

Further Suggestions
1. By measuring the diameter of the wire you may calculate the
resistance of the metal. You may want to compare different
metals.

2. You may want to perform the measurements of the V-I

characteristic of the light bulb manually using batteries as your
voltage source instead of the signal generator. Set up the data
logger according to the initial setup, change the number of
points to 20 and gradually change the voltage. Each time you
change the voltage wait a few seconds for the bulb to reach
steady state temperature and then click the Samples button.
This V-I characteristic will give an indication of the expected
behavior of the bulb in DC conditions.

3. During the experiment with the light bulb you may use a Light
sensor simultaneously with the Voltage and Current sensors.

166 V-I Characteristics of a Wire, a Light Bulb and a Diode

 You can then compare the power output with the light intensity
(see figure 8). To display a graph of the power:

3.a. Click Analysis Wizard on the main toolbar, then click the
Functions tab

3.b. In the Functions drop list select Multiply

3.c. In G1 drop list select the current and in G2 drop list select the
voltage

3.d. Click OK

Figure 8

V-I Characteristics of a Wire, a Light Bulb and a Diode 167