OHM’S LAW

Aim To determine the resistance per cm of a given wire by plotting a graph for potential
difference versus current.

Apparatus/Material Required A wire of unknown resistance, Battery, Voltmeter, Milli

ammeter, Rheostat, Plug key, Connecting wires, Piece of sandpaper

Circuit Diagram

Theory According to Ohm’s law, the electric current flowing through a conductor is directly
proportional to the potential difference across its ends, provided the physical state
(pressure, temperature, and dimensions) of the conductor remains unchanged.

If I is the current in ampere flowing through the conductor in ohms and V is the potential
difference in volts across its end, then and hence

V = RI

Where R is the constant of proportionality and is termed as the electrical resistance of the
conductor.

Where ρ is the specific resistance or resistivity and is a characteristic of the material of the
wire.

Procedure
1) Arrange the apparatus as shown in the figure
2) Clean the ends of the instruments to avoid insulation
3) Connect the positive terminal of the voltmeter and ammeter with the positive
terminal of battery
4) Note down the least count of the Ammeter and Voltmeter and Zero error if any
5) Insert the key and slide the Rheostat to check the working of Ammeter and
Voltmeter
6) Note down the value of current flowing from ammeter and the value of potential
difference from the voltmeter
Observation
S.no Applied potential difference (v) Current flowing through the wire (ma)

Calculations

Result

1. The resistivity of the given wire 1 is ___ and wire 2 is ___

Precautions
1) All the electrical connections must be neat and tight.
2) Voltmeter and Ammeter must be of proper range

Sources of Error
1) Instruments screw might be loose
2) Thick connecting wires may not be available

METRE BRIDGE

Aim To find resistance of a given wire using a metre bridge and hence determine the
resistivity (specific resistance) of its material.

Materials Required A metre bridge,, A Leclanche cell (battery eliminator), A galvanometer,

A resistance box, A jockey, A one-way key, A resistance wire, A screw gauge, A metre scale,
A set square, Connecting wires, A piece of sandpaper

Theory Metre bridge apparatus is also known as a slide wire bridge.

Procedure
1) Arrange the apparatus as shown in the diagram
2) Take out some resistance from the resistance box
3) Move the jockey from left end to the right end of the bridge wire to check its working
4) Note down the galvanometer deflections
5) Move the jockey from left to right till the galvanometer gives zero deflection and that
point is called null point

Observation
S.No Ressitance (R) Balancing Length (L) X’=R(100-l)/l Ω

Calculations

Calculation for X

Result The value of unknown resistance X = …….ohms

Precautions

1) The connections should be neat, tight and clean.

2) Plugs should be tightly connected in the resistance box.

Sources of Error

1) The screws of the instrument might be loose.

2) Thick connecting wires may not be available

COMBINATION OF RESISTANCES
Aim To verify the laws of the combination of resistances using a meter bridge.
Apparatus/Materials Required Meter Bridge, Leclanche cell, Resistance Box,
Galvanometer, Jockey, Sand Paper, Connecting wire, two resistance wires, A set squares

Theory

(i) The resistance of a resistance wire or a coil is given by

Where R is the resistance from the resistance box in the left gap, and l is the length of the
meter bridge wire from zero ends up to the balance point.

(ii) When two resistors r1 and r2 are connected in series, their combined resistance is given
as follows:

Rs = r 1 + r 2

Procedure

1) Mark r1 and r2

2) Find the value of r1 and r2

3) Connect r1 and r2 in series and calculate the resistance of the combination

4) Note down the galvanometer deflections
5) Move the jockey from left to right till the galvanometer gives zero deflection and that
point is called null point

Resistance S.no Resistance from Balancing Length (100 –

coil the resistance box length I (cm) l) (cm)

X1 1
2
3
X2 1
2
3
Series 1
combination 2
 of X1 and X2 3

Result Within limits of experimental error, theoretical and experimental values of Rs are the
same. Hence, the law of resistance in series is verified.

The value of combination of resistance X = …….ohms

Precautions

1) The connections should be neat, tight and clean.

2) Plugs should be tightly connected in the resistance box.

Sources of Error

1) The screws of the instrument might be loose.

2) Thick connecting wires may not be available

AC SONOMETER

Aim To determine the frequency of AC mains using a sonometer.

Apparatus A sonometer with soft wires, A set of eight tuning forks, Seven ½ kg slotted
weights, A set of eight tuning forks, Clamp, Rubber Pad, Paper rider, Metre Scale

Diagram

Theory

Observation

The weight suspended on the wire, T = _____ kg.

The length of the sonometer wire, L = _____ m.

Mass of wire, m = _____ kg.

Linear density,

S. No Mass Tension Resonating length

Calculations

Precaution

1) The wire should be soft iron or any other magnetic material.

2) Length should be noted when the amplitude of vibration is maximum.

Sources of Error

1) The screws of the instrument might be loose.

2) The wire might be of non-uniform diameter.

CONVEX LENS
Aim To find, the focal length of a convex lens by plotting graphs between u and v

Materials Required Light source, screen, lens holder, convex lens and concave lens

Theory We use the lens formula in this experiment to calculate the focal length of the
concave lens:
f=UV/U-V Where, f is the focal length of the convex lens, u is the distance of the source
from the lens in cm, v is the distance of screen the lens in cm
CONCAVE LENS
Aim To find the focal length of a concave lens using a convex lens

Materials Required Light source, screen, lens holder, convex lens, and concave lens

Theory We use the lens formula in this experiment to calculate the focal length of the
concave lens: f=UV/U-V. Where f is the focal length of the concave lens L1, u is the distance
of I from the optical center of the lens L2, and v is the distance of I’ from the optical center
of the lens L2. From sign convention, the f obtained from the above formula will be
negative as v > u and u – v is negative.

S.NO U V F = uv/u-v
1
2
3
Procedure
1) Place the convex lens on the lens holder and face the lens towards a distant tree or
building.
2) Obtain the image on a screen and keep moving the lens either forward or backwards
till a sharp image is formed.
3) Measure the distance between the lens and the screen this gives the rough focal
length
4) Now place the source, lens and screen in a straight line and place the lens at a
distance of approximately 2f from source and obtain the clear image on the screen
mark this position of screen as I1.
5) Now place the concave lens between the convex lens and the screen, adjust the
screen to get a proper image of the crosswire on screen, and mark the new position
of the screen as I2. The distance between the concave lens and I1 is taken as u
(object distance), and the distance between the concave lens and I2 is taken as v
(image distance).

Precautions
1) The lens must be clean.
2) The convex lens's focal length should be less than the concave lens.

Sources of Error
1) Distances not measured properly
2) Personnel error

Result The focal length of the given concave lens = …….. cm

PRISM
Aim To determine the angle of minimum deviation for a given prism by plotting a graph
between the angle of incidence and the angle of deviation.

Materials Required A drawing board, A white sheet of paper, A prism, Drawing pins, a
Pencil, A half-metre scale, Office pins, a Protractor, Graph paper

Theory Refraction takes place when a light ray travels from one medium to another
resulting in deviation of the emergent ray from that of the incident ray. Following is the
refractive index of the material used in the prism:

μ= sin (A+Dm/2)/ sin (A/2)

Where Dm is the angle of minimum deviation and A is the angle of the prism.

Angle of incidence Angle of deviation

35
40
45
50
55

Procedure
1) Place the white sheet of paper on the drawing board and fix it with the help of
drawing pins.
2) A straight line is drawn which is parallel to the length of the paper such that it is in the
middle of the paper.
3) Mark points on the edges of the prism on the straight line XX’.
4) Normal is drawn to the base of the prism
5) Mark angles of 35°, 40°,….,55° With respect to the normal.
 6) To take one edge of the prism for all the observations, mark any corner of the prism
as A.
7) On the incident ray fix office pins vertically and mark them as P1 and P2. .
8) Through prism face, AC, look for the images of the points P1 and P2.
9) Close your left eye and with the right eye open, bring it in line with the two images.
10) Fix the other two office pins vertically and name them as P3 and P4. These pins
should be 10cm apart from each other. P3 and P4 should be in one straight with
respect to the images of P1 and P2.
11) For points, Q2, Q3,…. for angle 40°, 45°,…..55°, repeat the above steps. To get
emergent rays draw straight lines through P4 and P5. Inward the boundary of the
prism to produce so that they meet incident rays Obtain the angle of deviation.

Result
1) The angle of minimum deviation, Dm = ………
2) Refractive index of the material of the prism, μ = ……

Precautions
1) 35°-60° is the angle of incidence that needs to be maintained.
2) The angle of prism used should be the same for all the observations.

Sources of Error
1) The pricks made by the pins might be thick.
2) Angles might go wrong while measuring them.
PN JUNCTION DIODE
Aim To draw the I-V characteristic curve of a p-n junction in forward bias.

Materials Required PN JUNCTION KIT

Theory
Forward bias characteristics The junction is said to be forward biased when the p-section of
the diode is connected to the positive terminal of the battery and the n-section of the diode
is connected to the negative terminal of the battery. With an increase in the voltage, the
current also increases. For the Si diode, at 0.7 V the current increases suddenly.

ΔR= ΔV/ ΔI
R-RESISTANCE OF THE JUNCTION DIODE
V-FORWARD BIAS VOLTAGE
I- FORWARD BIAS CURRENT

Symbol of pn junction diode:

 S.NO Forward bias voltage (V) Forward current (mA)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7

Procedure
For forward-bias
1. For voltmeter (V) and milli-ammeter (mA), least count and zero error should be noted.
2. Keeping current zero, increase the forward bias voltage up to 0.3 V for Ge diode.
3. To record a small current using milli-ammeter, increase the VF to 0.4 V.
4. Increase the VF by 0.2 V and record the corresponding current. When the VF becomes
0.7 V, the current will increase rapidly.
5. When VF = 0.72 V, the current increases suddenly and this is known as forward
breakdown stage.
6. The forward current won’t change as VF increased beyond forward breakdown voltage.
7. Record the observations.

Result
Junction resistance for forward bias = …….. ohms