Lab 1: Introduction to Electrical Measurements NAME: 1 Introduction Figure 1: MASTECH Multimeter. This lab concentrates on setting up two circuits- one with a resistor and one with a light bulb. This lab you will need to use a multimeter and/or LoggerPro on your computer. In this lab, we will learn about resistance and voltage, which are new concepts for this course. A resistor is something that resists the charge from mov- ing through the circuit. This circuit element prevents the charge from moving through the circuit. In the case of the light bulb, you will need to use a resistor to limit the current flowing to the light bulb so it does not burn out immediately. The voltage is the potential difference between two points. You probably encounter voltage everyday since a battery is rated to produce it. (We will cover this more this week!) We will be measuring the voltage of a battery. 2 Procedure 2.1 Resistor-Only Circuit You will measure the potential difference of the battery with the yellow MASTECH Multimeter. The battery says it should have a voltage of +1.5 V, however this is just the nominal voltage. The voltage of the battery can differ from its nominal value due to age, or a small difference in manufacturing. The procedure for the MASTECH Multimeter is as follows: 1. Plug the black battery lead into the black COM port using a black banana wire. 2. Plug the red battery lead into the red V/Ω/Hz port. 3. Turn the knob to the V range (2 V) (use the V without the squiggle). 4. Turn the RED ON/OFF on, and measure the voltage. 5. Record the Voltage below. VOLTAGE = V 6. Reverse the leads, and record the Voltage below: VOLTAGE (reversed) = V Now, we will measure the resistance of of the resistor. The symbol for Resistance is Ω, which is ”Ohms”. We will learn this more in depth in another week. 1. To measure the resistance value, use the same leads from the battery and keep the other leads plugged into the multimeter. 2. Turn the dial on the multimeter to dial, this resistor’s value is ≈ 22 Ω. 3. Record the value of the resistor Resistance = Ω 1