wire resistance investigation
PROJECT
Introduction
Title: Investigate one factor that affects the resistance of a wire.
Reworded: I am going to investigate if changing the length of a wire changes its resistance.
I predict that the longer the wire, the more resistance it has.
Planning and Preparation
Independent Variable: The variable I changed was length (cm).
Dependent Variable: The variable I measured was resistance (Ω).
Fixed Variables: The variables I kept constant to make it a fair test; were, the type of wire (nichrome), the thickness of the wire, and the temperature of the room (®C).
List any four pieces of equipment: Multimeter (ohmmeter), g-clamps, nichrome wire, wire cutters.
Apparatus: Multimeter (ohmmeter), ruler, wire cutters, two leads, g-clamps, crocodile clips, nichrome wire, safety goggles.
Tasks
List any four tasks:
I will gather the equipment I need.
I will record the resistance of the wire using an ohmmeter.
I will change the length (cm) of the wire.
I will take three sets of results.
Procedure
Safety precautions:
I will wear safety goggles because the wire could potentially damage my eye.
Method:
1) Set up apparatus as in diagram below.
2) Cut a long, 40cm piece of nichrome wire using wire cutters.
3) Straighten wire, clamp it down using g-clamps.
4) Plug two leads into the ohmmeter.
5) Clip wire with two crocodile clips (connected to the leads) with a distance of 28cm between them.
6) Measure resistance of wire using an ohmmeter.
7) Change the distance between the crocodile clips to 20cm, 34cm and 15cm.
8) Measure resistance of all lengths using an ohmmeter.
9) Repeat the experiment three times with each length and calculate average set of results for each length.
Diagram:
Results:
Length (cm)
R (Ω)
R (Ω)
R (Ω)
Average R (Ω)
28cm
130 (Ω)
180 (Ω)
164 (Ω)
158 (Ω)
20cm
150 (Ω)
98 (Ω)
92 (Ω)
113 (Ω)
34cm
194 (Ω)
121 (Ω)
136 (Ω)
150 (Ω)
15cm
128 (Ω)
120
Introduction
Title: Investigate one factor that affects the resistance of a wire.
Reworded: I am going to investigate if changing the length of a wire changes its resistance.
I predict that the longer the wire, the more resistance it has.
Planning and Preparation
Independent Variable: The variable I changed was length (cm).
Dependent Variable: The variable I measured was resistance (Ω).
Fixed Variables: The variables I kept constant to make it a fair test; were, the type of wire (nichrome), the thickness of the wire, and the temperature of the room (®C).
List any four pieces of equipment: Multimeter (ohmmeter), g-clamps, nichrome wire, wire cutters.
Apparatus: Multimeter (ohmmeter), ruler, wire cutters, two leads, g-clamps, crocodile clips, nichrome wire, safety goggles.
Tasks
List any four tasks:
I will gather the equipment I need.
I will record the resistance of the wire using an ohmmeter.
I will change the length (cm) of the wire.
I will take three sets of results.
Procedure
Safety precautions:
I will wear safety goggles because the wire could potentially damage my eye.
Method:
1) Set up apparatus as in diagram below.
2) Cut a long, 40cm piece of nichrome wire using wire cutters.
3) Straighten wire, clamp it down using g-clamps.
4) Plug two leads into the ohmmeter.
5) Clip wire with two crocodile clips (connected to the leads) with a distance of 28cm between them.
6) Measure resistance of wire using an ohmmeter.
7) Change the distance between the crocodile clips to 20cm, 34cm and 15cm.
8) Measure resistance of all lengths using an ohmmeter.
9) Repeat the experiment three times with each length and calculate average set of results for each length.
Diagram:
Results:
Length (cm)
R (Ω)
R (Ω)
R (Ω)
Average R (Ω)
28cm
130 (Ω)
180 (Ω)
164 (Ω)
158 (Ω)
20cm
150 (Ω)
98 (Ω)
92 (Ω)
113 (Ω)
34cm
194 (Ω)
121 (Ω)
136 (Ω)
150 (Ω)
15cm
128 (Ω)
120