Week 7 – Experiment 1 – Build An Electric Circuit (Lab)
Labs for College Physics: Mechanics Worksheet Lab 7.1-1
Build an Electric Circuit
As you work through the steps in the lab procedure, record your experimental values and the results
on this worksheet. Use the exact values you record for your data to make later calculations. Do not
enter negative numbers for voltage, current, or power even though you may have negative numbers
as a result of doing the experiment. Convert all negative values of voltage, current, and/or power
to positive values before entering data in the lab report. Do not include units in your answers.
Series Circuit { Data
Record your data for scenario 1 in the following table.
Table 1: Series Scenario 1 (Battery Voltage = 9 V)
Resistor Resistance Observed Current Observed Voltage Power
(ohms) (amps) (volts) (watts)
R1 3.0
R2 3.0
R3 3.0
Enter the total values for voltage and power.
Table 2
Rtotal 9.0 ohms
Vtotal volts
Ptotal watts
Labs for College Physics: Mechanics Worksheet Lab 7.1-2
Record your data for scenario 2 in the following table.
Table 3: Series Scenario 2 (Battery Voltage = 9 V)
Resistor Resistance Observed Current Observed Voltage Power
(ohms) (amps) (volts) (watts)
R1 3.0
R2 6.0
R3 9.0
Enter the total values for voltage and power.
Table 4
Rtotal 18.0 ohms
Vtotal volts
Ptotal watts
Parallel Circuit { Data
Record your data for scenario 1 in the following table.
Table 5: Parallel Scenario 1 (Battery Voltage = 9 V)
Resistor Resistance Observed Current Observed Voltage Power
(ohms) (amps) (volts) (watts)
R1 3.0
R2 3.0
R3 3.0
Labs for College Physics: Mechanics Worksheet Lab 7.1-3
Enter the total values for current and power.
Table 6
Rtotal 1.0 ohm
Itotal amps
Ptotal watts
Record your data for scenario 2 in the following table.
Table 7: Parallel Scenario 2 (Battery Voltage = 9 V)
Resistor Resistance Observed Current Observed Voltage Power
(ohms) (amps) (volts) (watts)
R1 3.0
R2 6.0
R3 9.0
Enter the total values for current and power.
Table 8
Rtotal 1.64 ohms
Itotal amps
Ptotal watts
Labs for College Physics: Mechanics Worksheet Lab 7.1-4
Questions
In the series scenario 1 circuit, the resistor that would feel the hottest to the touch is which of the
following?
. R1
. R2
. R3
. None, they are all the same.
In the series scenario 2 circuit, the resistor that would feel the hottest to the touch is which of the
following?
. R1
. R2
. R3
. None, they are all the same.
The phenomenon that is responsible for the resistor feeling hot is called
.
In the parallel scenario 1 circuit, the resistor that would feel the hottest to the touch is which of
the following?
. R1
. R2
. R3
. None, they are all the same.
In the parallel scenario 2 circuit, the resistor that would feel the hottest to the touch is which of
the following?
. R1
. R2
. R3
. None, they are all the same.
Labs for College Physics: Mechanics Worksheet Lab 7.1-5
If we placed a 6-amp fuse in any of the four circuits you tested, the fuse would fail in
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