Project Proposal: Resistance and Temperature in a Thermistor

Kyle Adrianne Benito1*, Jezreel Castillo1, Reymar Diwa2, Ron Andrei Soriano3 1 Institute of Chemistry, University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City 2 National Institute of Geological Sciences, University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City 3 Department of Chemical Engineering, University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City *Kyle Adrianne Benito: benito_kyle@yahoo.com _____________________________________________________________________________________________

Objectives:
At the end of this activity you should be able to: 1. Determine temperature-resistance properties of a semiconductor. 2. Determine the relationship between temperature and resistance. 3. Differentiate a thermistor and an ohmic conductor.

Introduction:
A point charge, when placed in a region with electric field formed by potential difference, will either move along or opposite the direction of the electric field depending on the charge. This movement of the charge from one point to another is called current which relies on the potential difference and resistance of the material. However, the nature of the solid or material may also greatly affect the flow of the charges due to the different conducting properties it has. There are three categories of materials based on conducting properties, namely: conductors, insulators and semiconductors. Conductors are said to have the highest conductivity which allows the electrical charges to flow freely, while insulators have the lowest conductivity which resists the flow of electrical charges. Among the three kinds, semiconductors are known for having both the characteristics of conductors and insulators; hence, the conductivity of these materials is intermediate in magnitude between the other two natures of materials. With this, it was discovered that there is a conduction mechanism for semiconductors than for normal conductors which is temperature dependent. This new idea introduced was known as the Band Theory of Solids. In this activity, you will perform an experiment using thermistor, a semiconductor, to determine the dependency of the conductivity of a semiconductor with temperature. You will also investigate why is there a difference between a semiconductor and a conductor in terms of their conductivity.

Theory:
In band theory, allowed energy states for electrons are nearly continuous over certain ranges, called energy bands, with forbidden energy gaps between the bands. These energy bands can be grouped into valence and conduction bands. Valence band is responsible for the electrical conductivity whenever an external electric field is present. Meanwhile, the conduction band is 1

considered a higher band than valence band which can give rise to semiconductors by producing smaller energy gaps which results to production of modest current from an applied electric field. Ideally, more atoms are excited when the temperature is raised from T=0 which can explain the temperature dependence of the resistivity of a semiconductor. Electrons that have jumped from the valence band to occupy the conduction band are those that can only contribute in the conduction process of a semiconductor. The temperature dependence of a semiconductor follows an exponential relation with temperature through the equation: [1] where R is the resistance, T is the temperature, and [2] where Egap is the bandaged and kb is the Boltzmann constant.

Materials:
1. 10K Thermistor (Radio Shack Part No. 271-110A) 2. Hotplate / Candle 3. Multimeter 4. Digital Thermometer 5. Ice cubes

Procedure:
1. Prepare an ice bath in a large beaker and record the temperature. 2. Connect the thermistor to the multimeter to record the resistance on the proper scale. 3. Insert the thermistor into the ice bath and allow the temperature to reach equilibrium. 4. Record the starting temperature and resistance, then plug in the hot plate. 5. Record the resistance and temperature at 5.0oC intervals to a maximum of 90oC, stirring gently to prevent uneven heating. 6. Plot a graph of resistance () vs. temperature (x-axis).

References and Acknowledgements:

Lab Manual Authors, Physics 72.1 Lab Manual (2007). Pal, S. B., Variation of Resistivity of Semiconductor with Temperature. Available in the Internet http://sam.botcyb.org/reports/semitemp.pdf Keefer, J., Resistance and Temperature in a Thermistor; the Solid State. Available in the Internet http://www.frontiernet.net/~jlkeefer/resistance_and_temperature_in.htm Semiconductor Theory and Devices. TR-11.ppt