Joseph Bressan

104220830
November 6th, 2015
Lab Section 51
Electrical and Computing Fundamentals
85-234

Experiment 2: Kirchhoffs Laws and Basic Instrumentation

Name of Partners: Anthony Cristofaro, Basam Dawood, Cameron Bernachi
Objective:
The objective of this experiment is to develop proficiency in the use of a digital
multimeter in the context of verifying Kirchhoffs Voltage and Current Laws (KVL and
KCL).
Experimental Procedure:
Part 1:
A voltmeter is a device, which measure the voltage drop from the red to black probes.
Voltmeters are placed in parallel with circuit element whose voltage is to be measured.
Consider the voltage divider circuit shown in Figure 1 in which the voltage across R2 is to
be measured. If the presence of the voltmeter does not affect the voltage it is intending to
measure, the meter must draw no current. That is, it must act as an open circuit. An open
circuit can be thought of as an infinite resistance. Hence, an ideal voltmeter has an
infinite resistance. The internal resistance of a digital voltmeter is on the order of M,
which is large, but certainly not infinite.

The resistance of the voltmeter alters the voltage division equation as follows:

where Rv is the resistance of the voltmeter. Recall that an ideal voltmeter has infinite
resistance. Letting the value of Rv in Equation 2 be infinite should result in Equation 1.
You will now build the voltage divider circuit using the DC power supply as the voltage
source Vsin Figure 1.
1. Voltage Divider with Moderate-Valued Resistors
1) Obtain two 1K resistors and designate them to be known as R1 and R2.
2) Measure the resistor values using the multimeter as an ohmmeter. Do not forget which
resistor is which.
3) Build the circuit in Figure 1 using the two 1k resistors.
4) Set the power supple to 5V. Use the voltmeter to ensure the correct setting. Note that
you must complete building your circuit before you set the power supply voltage to 5V.
5) The voltmeter measures the voltage across both resistors R1 and R2. Record these
values and verify Kirchhoffs Voltage Law.
6) Comment on the accuracy of measurements made considering the internal resistance of
the voltmeter.
7) Make a table showing theoretical and measured voltages along with percent error.
Consider whether your theoretical values for the voltages across R1 and R2 should include
the effect of Rv. Important Note: When you are calculating percent error, you should
avoid cases in which the theoretical value is zero since the percent error is meaningless.
To calculate percent error between theoretical and experimental verification of KVL, use
the source voltage as the reference. For example, in the measurements made in this
section, the theoretical value (and measured value!) for the voltage across the supply is
5V. The measured value is the same as the theoretical value because you used the

voltmeter to set the power supply voltage to 5V. To obtain the KVL measured voltage,
add the voltage across R1 to the voltage across R2. Compare with 5V.
2. Voltage Divider with Large-Valued Resistors
1) Obtain two 3.3M resistors. Designate one of the resistors as R1 and the other as
R2.
2) Using the multimeter as an ohmmeter, measure the resistor values. Remember to
keep track of which resistor corresponds to which value measured.
3) Make the circuit in Figure 1 using the 10 M resistors for R1 and R2.
4) Set the power supply to 5V.
5) Using the voltmeter, measure the voltage across resistors R1 and R2. Record these
values and verify KVL.
6) Comment on the accuracy of the voltage measurements made (consider the
internal resistance of the voltmeter).
7) Create a table presenting theoretical and measured voltages along with percent
error. Consider whether your theoretical values for the voltages across R1 and R2
should include the effect of Rv. (Hint: Calculate Rv based on your measured data,
then analyze your circuits).
Part 2: Using the Multimeter as an Ammeter
An ammeter is a device that measures the current flowing from red to the black probes
within the meter. Ammeters are placed in series with the circuit element whose current is
to be measured. Two elements are in series when they are apart of the same branch.
Consider the current divider shown in Figure 4:

First consider the circuit with the ammeter not present as Figure 4; the current through R2
may be expressed as a fraction of is in terms of R1 and R2 using the following current
division formula:

With the ammeter present, its equivalent circuit is shown in Figure 5:

The current through R2 can be obtained as follows:

where Ra is the resistance of the ammeter. Recall that an ideal ammeter has zero
resistance. Letting the value of Ra in Equation 4 be zero should result in Equation 3.
You will now build the current divider circuit and make several measurements. Record all
measured values and present percentage error calculations and tables as appropriate.
3. Current Divider with Moderate-Valued Resistors
1)
2)
3)
4)

Obtain two 100 resistors. One resistor is named R1 and the other one is R2.
Measure the resistor values using the multimeter.
Build the circuit in Figure 4 usng the 100 resistors for R1 and R2.
The power supply should be set to 10V. Don't forget to set the voltage using the
voltmeter rather than depending on the front panel display of the power supply.
Important Note: You built the circuit before you set the power supply voltage to
10V. If the current limiter is set to a value lower than the current demanded by the
circuit, the constant current (cc) indicator will light up and the voltage control
knob will no longer adjust the output voltage. If this happens, simply increase the
current limiter until you are able to achieve 10V in the constant voltage (cv)
mode.
5) Using the voltmeter, measure the voltage across the 10k resistor followed by the
parallel combination of resistors R1 and R2. Record these values.

6)

7)

8)
9)
10)
11)

Configure the multimeter to measure current. Remember that this requires two
things: Remove the terminal of the red probe from the voltage/resistance
measuring receptacle and insert it in the current measuring receptacle on the front
panel of the multimeter. Then press the DC current button, also on the front panel
of the multimeter.
Measure the current through the 10V source. Remember that you have to break
the circuit and insert the ammeter in series with the 10V source to allow the
current to flow through the ammeter.
Measure the current through R1 and then the current through R2.
Verify KCL. Remember that a theoretical value of zero produces a meaningless
percent error.
Comment on the accuracy of the voltage measurements made (consider the
internal resistance of the voltmeter).
Comment on the accuracy of the current measurements made (consider the
internal resistance of the ammeter).

4. Current Divider with Small-Valued Resistors

1)
2)
3)
4)

Grab two 10 resistors. One is called R1 and the other is called R2.
Measure the resistor values using the multimeter.
Build the circuit in Figure 4 using the 10 resistors for R1 and R2.
Set the power supply to 10V. Don't forget to set the voltage using the voltmeter
rather than depending on the front panel display of the power supply.
5) Using the voltmeter, measure the voltage across the 10 k resistor followed by
the parallel combination of resistors R1 and R2. Record these values.
6) Configure the multimeter to measure current. Remember that this requires two
things: Remove the terminal of the red probe from the voltage/resistance
measuring receptacle and insert it in the current measuring receptacle on the front
panel of the multimeter. Then press the DC current button, also on the front panel
of the multimeter.
7) Measure the current through the 10V source. Remember that you have to break
the circuit and insert the ammeter in series with the 10V source to allow the
current to flow through the ammeter.
8) Measure the current through R1 and the current through R2.
9) Verify KCL. Remember that a theoretical value of zero produces a meaningless
percent error.
10) Comment on the accuracy of the voltage measurements made (consider the
internal resistance of the voltmeter).
11) Comment on the accuracy of the current measurements made (consider the
internal resistance of the ammeter).

Experiment 1:
R1 = 986 ohm
R2 = 998 ohm
Voltage across battery = 5.07
Theoretical
value (V)
Vr = 5V
V1 = 2.5V
V2 = 2.5V

Measured
value (V)
5.07
2.512
2.543

%Error
1.4
0.48
1.72

Using KVL (for figure 1) = 0:

V1 + V2 5.07 = 0
(2.512) + (2.543) 5.07 = 0
5.055 does not equal 5.07. There is a difference of 0.015V.
A minor error in the experimental data was found because of the inaccuracy of the
measurements of DC voltage. This was put to the closest value of 5 but it was not exactly
5

Experiment 2:
R1 = 3.3 M
R2 = 3.4 M
Theoretical
value (V)
5V
2.5V
2.5V

Measured
value (V)
5.07
2.176
2.243

% Error
1.4
12.96
10.28

Using KVL (for figure 1) = 0:

V1 + V2 - 5.07 = 0
(2.176) + (2.243) 5.05 = 0
4.419 does not equal 5.07 so there is a difference is -0.631.
There is more error here because of the huge difference between 0 and -0.631.
After using the KVL, this value should be completely zero or really small. This error
could have resulted from defective resistors, circuit boards and equipment error or
malfunction.

Experiment 3:
R1 = 98 for a voltage of 10.07V
R2 = 99 for a voltage of 10.07V
Theoretical voltage is 10.07V
Voltage across 10k = 10.03
Voltage across 98 = 0.051
Voltage across 99 = 0.028

Using KVL (for figure 3) = 0

V1 + V2 + V3 10.027 = 0
(0.051) + (0.028) + (10.03) 10.07 = 0
10.11 does not equal 10.07 which means there is a difference of 0.04V
This is a very small deviation, which is reasonable because some voltage is lost as heat
and small errors are expected because of faulty equipment.
Current through 10V source = 1.04 Amps
Current through R1 = 0.46mA
Current through R2 = 0.49mA
Current through 10 k = 96.4mA

Using KCL = 0
I1 + I2 1.04 = 0
(0.46) + (0.49) 1.04 = 0
0.95A is not equal to 1.04A. There is a difference is 0.09A.
This is a very small deviation which is reasonable because some current is lost to the
faulty circuit board and small errors are expected because of faulty equipment.

Experiment 4:
R1 = 10.5
R2 = 10.9
Voltage at source = 10.06V, theoretical voltage is 10V
Voltage across 10 k ohm resistor = 10.06V
Voltage across R1 (10.5 ) = 0.004
Voltage acrossR2 (10.9) = 0.004

Using KVL = 0
V1 + V2 + V3 10 = 0
(0.004) + (0.004) + (10.06) 10 = 0
10 .068 is not equal to the theoretical voltage of 10 V. There is small error here
due to some voltage being lost in the circuit breadboard.

Current through 10V source =

Current through 10.5ohm = 0.29mA
Current through 10.9 ohm = 0.27mA
Current through Rtot = 0.55mA
Using KCL = 0
I1 + I2 1 = 0
(0.29) + (0.27) = 1
0.56 =/ 1 The difference is -0.24.
This is huge error because of equipment and measurements errors. Plus defected circuits
and faulty resistors.
Discussion and Conclusion:
Part1: We found that the 1 k resistor with the use of Kirchhoffs Voltage law (KVL)
produced a voltage of almost 5V which is the theoretical value calculated. This is because
of the slight difference in the values of the resistors and not having the exact voltage
flowing through the system.
Part 2: After using KVL to calculate the voltage through the first and second resistor we
had a huge error because the values did not add up to theoretical value initially
calculated. This is due to human error and not having exact values to work with.

Part 3: When entering resistor 1 and 2 in parallel and resistor 3 in series and taking KVL
of that system, we got a solution that was close to the theoretical value that was supposed
to be reached but had a small deviation in the final answer. Following that, after taking
the KCL calculation (Kirchhoffs Current Law) through the three resistors. We got an
answer with a small deviation to the theoretical value. We expect this to be from not
having an exact current flowing throughout the system, because it was so sensitive, and
hard to get the exact value needed.
Part 5: Finally taking resistor 1 and resistor 2 with the voltage at 10 V, We calculated the
voltage across the resistors to get the voltage and current through the resistors. When
calculating these results we got huge errors, all due to errors in the resistors, and
equipment error.
This lab really taught the group about how Kirchhoffs laws are applied to real life
circumstances and how they are used in the lab. The multiples parts of the experiment
really solidified the understanding of KVL and KCL. Also, throughout the experiment,
we used the DMM constantly and really learned how to operate the machine with ease.