Chapter 4

DC Circuits

The first drawing of a telephone by Alexander Graham Bell. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Manuscripts Division, The Alexander
Graham Bell Family Papers.

4.1

Introduction

Electrical devices have revolutionized society, transforming how we work, spend our leisure
time, and communicate. In this lab you will investigate properties of some simple directcurrent (DC) circuits. By the end of this lab you should:
understand how to use a digital multimeter.
understand the concepts of current, voltage, and resistance, and how they are related.
be able to apply the concept of conservation of charge to explain how current flows
through dierent parts of a circuit.
understand the behavior of circuits containing combinations of resistors in series and
in parallel.
29

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Chapter 4DC Circuits

Reading and Key Concepts

Before starting this lab, you should be familiar with the following physical concepts. If you
need to review them, or if you havent yet discussed them in your lecture course, consult the
indicated sections in Young & Freedman, University Physics.
Ohms law and resistors, and electric power, 5.1
Resistors in series and parallel circuits, 5.3
Kirchos laws, 5.4
Ammeters and voltmeters, 5.5

Apparatus
This lab uses a few very simple components that you will be connecting in various combinations:
A DC power supply (Extech): This device produces a constant voltage between its
two terminals.
Three resistors, with marked values of 10

, 50

, and 495

Four light bulbs. These behave somewhat like resistors in a circuit. Unlike resistors,
the resistance of a light bulb increases as more current flows through it. The brightness
of a bulb depends on the power dissipated in the bulb (P = IV ).
Two Meterman digital multimeters (DMMs). This incredibly useful instrument
can measure resistance, voltage, and current. Thus it is an ohmmeter, a voltmeter,
and an ammeter all in one package. Proper use of the DMM is discussed below in
Section 4.2.2.

4.2
4.2.1

Preliminaries
Ammeters & Voltmeters

To measure quantities such as current in a circuit and voltage dierence across a circuit
element, we use experimental devices called ammeters and voltmeters.
Ammeters measure the current flowing through them. Thus, we place them in series
with the relevant components. Since we dont want to disturb any currents when we
place these in our circuit, ideal ammeters have zero resistance (real meters have a very
small resistance). That way, all the possible current will flow through them. In circuit
A
.
diagrams, ammeters are denoted by the symbol
Voltmeters measure the voltage difference between their two leads. Thus, we attach
their leads in parallel to the relevant components. Again, we do not want these meters
to influence the currents in the circuit. Therefore, ideal voltmeters have infinite resistance (real meters strive for high resistances), so that no current leaks through them.
V
.
In circuit diagrams, voltmeters are denoted by the symbol

Chapter 4DC Circuits

4.2.2

31

Digital Multimeters (DMMs)

In this lab, you will use the orange Meterman DMM to measure DC current (up to 2 A),
DC volts, and resistance. The main features are a dial that you can turn to the appropriate
measurement mode and range, and three input connectors at the bottom. You will always
have just two cables plugged into the DMM:
One cable will always be plugged into the center, black connector labeled
COM (common).
Current: For current measurements, the second cable will be plugged into the righthand jack labeled A mA A. The meter must be set to 2 A on the DC scale before
connecting the meter to the circuit. Note that DC current is labeled by A on the
meter.
Voltage/Resistance: When measuring DC voltage (labeled by V), the second cable
will be plugged into the left-hand jack labeled by V.
Here are instructions for measuring various quantities of interest with the DMM. You
will gain practice with this as you progress through the experiments.
1. When measuring resistance, the device you are measuring must be disconnected from
all other devices, such as power supplies.
2. When measuring voltage, the leads of the DMM must be placed across the terminals of
the device you are measuring. You are therefore placing the DMM in parallel with the
device. This meter can measure voltage in circuits with both direct current (DC) and
alternating current (AC). For this lab, make sure that the meter is set in DC mode. (If
you keep measuring zero volts when you know it should be nonzero, you are probably
in AC mode.) You can switch between DC and AC mode by turning the dial between
the symbols V and V , which represent DC and AC, respectively.
3. When measuring current, you must place the DMM in series with the appropriate
component of the circuit. Do not exceed the rated current limit of 2 A for the meter
or you will blow the fuse!
4. For all measurements, the DMM must be set to the appropriate range. You will get the
best accuracy by setting it to the first value thats larger than the value you are going
to measure. If the display flashes or beeps when you attempt to make a measurement,
try adjusting the range setting.

4.3
4.3.1

Experiments
Measuring Resistance

Turn the dial on the DMM to the appropriate setting and measure the resistance of each of
your three resistors. Record these values on your worksheet. Note that resistors can dier
from their marked values by up to 5% or so. Are your measured values in good agreement?
Now measure the resistance of one of your light bulbs, and record its value as well.

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Chapter 4DC Circuits

Power
Supply

Power
Supply

Ammeter

495

Voltmeter

Figure 4.1: Left: Schematic diagram for measuring voltage vs. current in a resistor. Right:
The circuit as built with your lab equipment. Note that the ammeter is placed in series
between the power supply and the resistor, while the voltmeter is placed in parallel across
the resistor. By changing the settings of the DMM, it can serve two dierent roles in the
circuit.

4.3.2

Voltage vs. Current in a Resistor

Build the circuit shown in Figure 4.1, using the 495 resistor. Do not turn on the power
until your GSI has verified that your setup is configured correctly! Then, record the current
and voltage for five dierent voltage settings spaced roughly equally between 0 and 10V.
Plot your current vs. voltage data on the graph in your worksheet.
For a material that obeys Ohms Law, the voltage and current are related via V = IR.
Does your resistor obey Ohms Law? In an ideal situation, what would the slope of your line
be?

4.3.3

A single bulb

Build the circuit consisting of a single light bulb shown in the following figure. This is the
same circuit as you built in the previous experiment, with the resistor replaced by a light
bulb. Adjust the knob on the power supply until the voltmeter reads 8 V. You will leave
the knob in this position for the rest of this section. Record the value of the current in
the circuit, and use these two numbers to determine the resistance of the light bulb. Does
your answer agree with the value that you measured directly before? It shouldntyour new
value is probably significantly higher.

Chapter 4DC Circuits

33

A
V

8V

You have just discovered that Ohms Law is not really a law, but rather an empirical
relationship that holds only for some materials. Light bulb filaments are one of the exceptions. Heres whats happening: when current flows through the filament, the filament gets
very hot, several thousand kelvin, in fact nearly as hot as the surface of the sun! (Thats
why incandescent lights shine with about the same color as sunlight.) This high temperature
gives the atoms in the filament a large amount of vibrational energy, so they present a more
dicult obstacle course for the electrons in the current to navigate. This means that the
resistance of the light bulb goes up. Since it was the current that caused the temperature of
the filament to rise in the first place, you can see that the resistance of the bulb is a function
of the current. This is not at all like an ohmic material, in which the resistance is constant
and only the voltage depends on the current.

4.3.4

Two bulbs in series

Now build a circuit containing a second bulb in series with the first:

8V

In comparison with the previous circuit, what happens to the following quantities:
The total current in the circuit.
The voltage drop across each bulb.
The brightness of each bulb.
Analyze the circuit and explain why each of these quantities changed in the way they did.
4.3.4.1

Adding a resistor

Now build a circuit with another component added: a 50

the light bulbs.

resistor in parallel with one of

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Chapter 4DC Circuits

A
V

8V

In comparison with the previous circuit, what happens to the following quantities:
The total current in the circuit.
The voltage drop across each bulb.
The brightness of each bulb.
Analyze the circuit and explain why each of these quantities changed in the way they did.
Try replacing the 50 resistor with the 10 and the 495 resistor. Explain what happens
in each case and why.
4.3.4.2

Adding a resistor, again

Remove the resistor, so that you are back to the circuit from Section 4.3.4. Build a circuit
containing a 50 resistor in parallel with both bulbs:

8V

In comparison to the circuit in Section 4.3.4, what happens to the following quantities
The total current in the circuit.
The voltage drop across each bulb.
The brightness of each bulb.
Analyze the circuit and explain why each of these quantities changed in the way they did.

4.3.5

Bulbs in Parallel

With the power supply voltage still at 8 V, build the following circuit. Note that the ammeter
is measuring the current I from the power supply; ensure that it is connected in series before
you turn on the power.

Chapter 4DC Circuits

35

I
A

8V

IA

IB

How does the brightness of each bulb compare to the one-bulb circuit in Section 4.3.3?
Use the ammeter to measure the current through one of the parallel branches. What is the
relationship between I, IA , and IB ? What physical principle accounts for this relationship?

4.3.6

A Series and Parallel Combination

Build the following circuit:

I
A

8V

IA

IB

Compared to the two-bulb circuit in Section 4.3.5, what happens to I? What happens to the
brightness of bulb A? Which bulb or bulbs in this circuit are be the brightest? Which will
be larger, IA or IB ? Analyze the circuit and explain why each of these quantities changed
in the way they did.

4.3.7

A Four-Bulb Circuit

Build the following circuit. Note that you do not need the ammeter here.
B
A

D
C

What is the order of brightness of the four bulbs. You may need to increase the power
supply voltage to about 15 V. Explain your results.
4.3.7.1

A Broken Circuit

Consider the following broken circuit, with the break occurring at the location indicated:

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Chapter 4DC Circuits

break
B
A

D
C

Try this out in your circuit from the previous experiment. (You can do this by disconnecting one of the wires from bulb B.) What happens to the brightness of each bulb?
Explain your observations.
4.3.7.2

A Short Circuit

Consider the following short circuit, with a wire connected between the points indicated.
wire
B
A

D
C

Try this out in your circuit from Section 4.3.7. What happens to the brightness of each
bulb? Explain your results.

4.4

Circuit Analysis

Analyzing electrical circuits can be a daunting task if you have never done it before. This
section is designed to give you a beginning point to understanding circuit design and changes.
Suppose we have the circuit shown in Fig 4.2 and we add in the resistor shown with the
dashed lines. The first thing we should ask ourselves is, What doesnt change? In this
case, the power supply voltage, Vtot , is the only parameter which does not change. The next
question we should ask is, What happens to total circuit resistance? We added the new
resistor in parallel, so the total circuit resistance goes down. Thus the total circuit current,
Itot goes up (Ohms Law).
At this point, the analysis becomes more dicult. We must determine how this change
to the total circuit current aects each component. While we did add a new path for current
to flow (Rnew ), it is not true that all of increase in current flows through it leaving R2 and
R3 unchanged. That is a common misconception. The way to properly analyze this circuit
is to think about which components have Itot flowing through them. In this case, that is
only R1 . By Ohms Law we know that if I1 goes up, V1 does also.
To determine what happens to R2 and R3 , we can use Kirchos Loop Rule. Since
Vtot = V1 + V2 and V1 increased, V2 must decrease. Also from Kirchos Loop Rule we have
V2 = V3 = Vnew . So the current through R2 and R3 each went down even though total circuit
current went up!
In summary, this is a short method to analyze circuits

Chapter 4DC Circuits

37

I tot

R1

Vtot
R2

R3

Rnew

Figure 4.2: Example series-parallel circuit for analysis.

1. Which quantities remain constant?
2. What happens to total circuit resistance?
3. What happens to total circuit current?
4. Which components have the total circuit current flowing through them?
5. How do their changes aect the rest of the circuit?

Discussion Questions
In the 1989 movie National Lampoons Christmas Vacation, the films protagonist wires
his entire house with string lights yet they fail to turn on as expected. Another character suggests that he checks each bulb to make sure none have burned out. If the lights
did not turn on due to a burned out bulb, what configuration must they have been in
series, parallel, or a series-parallel combination? Explain your answer based on the
results of your experiments.
When you use a power strip with your computer, you can connect and disconnect
components without aecting the others. How must the terminals on the power strip
be wired series, parallel, or a series-parallel combination? Explain your answer based
on the results of your experiments.