Network of Resistors

Datario, Jessa Mae

Francisco, Maria Angela
Hidalgo, Edgar Jr.
Libao, Christian Adrian
Macaspac, John Joselle
Manalo, Denzel

De La Salle University-Dasmariñas
Dasmariñas, Cavite Philippines

ABSTRACT

The purpose of electrical circuits is to provide electricity and, in this experiment, series,
parallel and series - parallel circuits were constructed. The equivalence of the three set-
ups were individually calculated using the Ohm’s Law, and experimentally using the
voltmeter and ammeter together with the resistors. There were three resistors: 100Ω, 200Ω
and 300Ω that were used in both the parallel and series connections and in the series -
parallel one. A series circuit is one with all the loads in a row. There is only one path for
the electricity to flow where the current is constant, and the resistor and voltage are directly
proportional. A parallel circuit is one that has two or more paths for the electricity to flow,
the loads are parallel where voltage is constant, and the resistor and current are inversely
proportional to each other. The Series – Parallel was a combination of series circuit and
parallel where in a parallel circuit is inside a series circuit.

INTRODUCTION

Resistor networks are circuits with more than one resistor. Resistors have two types of networks,
series and parallel (1). Resistors are in a series whenever the flow of charge called the current, flow through
the devices sequentially Adding more parallel resistances to the paths causes the total resistance in the
circuit to decrease. As you add more and more branches to the circuit the total current will increase because
Ohm's Law states that the lower the resistance, the higher the current. (2). On the other hand, resistors are
in a parallel when each resistor is connected directly to the voltage source by connecting wires that has
negligible resistance (3). Others are combination circuits that have a combination of series and parallel
paths for the electricity to flow. Its properties are a combination of the two.

There are differences between series and parallel connection regarding their current, voltage, and
resistance. In a series connection, the current is the same in all parts of the circuit, while the total voltage
and the resistance is the sum of all individual voltages and resistances respectively. In a parallel connection,
the voltage is the same in each parts of the circuit and the current is the sum of all individual currents while
the total resistance is the sum of the reciprocal of each individual resistance (4). Resistor circuits that
combine parallel and series connections are known as resistor combination or mixed resistor circuits.

MATERIALS AND METHOD

In this experiment, with the use of the resistors (R 1 = 100 Ω, R1= 200 Ω, and R3 = 300 Ω), three
ammeter, three voltmeter and a power supply, three different setups were made namely: series, parallel
and series – parallel circuit. In different setup, the positioning and order of the materials were guided by the
given diagram. Their voltage and current were gathered through respective measuring devices. Also, the
theoretical values were computed using the formula given. After the computation the data was tabulated.
 Comparing the gathered data from measuring devices and the theoretical value computed we have
included the percent of error in the table, where it measures whether the data gathered were close to the
computed values. The sources of errors were also enumerated for evaluation.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Different computations were made with the use of the formulas below:

For series circuit: Vs = ItRt

R t = R 1 + R 2 + R3
It = I1 = I2 = I3
Vt = V1 + V2 + V3

For Parallel circuit: Vs = ItRt

1 1 1 1
= + +
Rt R1 R2 R3
It = I1 + I2 + I3
Vt = V1 = V2 = V3

For Series – Parallel: Combination of the equations of Series and Parallel

Data gathered are tabulated below:

Table 1. Series Circuit

Resistor Voltage Current
(Ω) Actual (V) Ideal (V) % error Actual (mA) Ideal (mA) % error
R1 = 100 2.5 2.5 0 24 25 4
R2 = 200 5.0 5 0 25 25 0
R3 = 300 7.7 7.5 2.67 25 25 0

Table 2. Parallel Circuit

Resistor Voltage Current
(Ω) Actual (V) Ideal (V) % error Actual (mA) Ideal (mA) % error
R1 = 100 15 15 0 150 150 0
R2 = 200 15 15 0 75 75 0
R3 = 300 15 15 0 50 50 0

Table 1. Series - Parallel Circuit

Resistor Voltage Current
(Ω) Actual (V) Ideal (V) % error Actual (mA) Ideal (mA) % error
R1 = 100 2.5 2.73 8.42 25 27.27 8.32
R2 = 200 2.5 2.73 8.42 15 13.64 9.97
R3 = 300 12.5 12.27 1.87 40 40.91 2.22

Upon computations and comparison, Series circuits have the same current in constant power given
while varies in the Voltage in different resistors where as the Resistor increases the voltage also increases.
Parallel circuits have the same voltage in different resistors and the current varies in it, whereas the resistor
increases the current decrease. While Series – Parallel Circuit was combination of both Series circuit and
Parallel circuit where the voltage and current varies in different resistors. Also, errors such as, inaccurate
measurement given by the devices and having different perspective gathers different values were observed
during the experiment.
REFERENCES
(1) Resistors in Series and Parallel. Retrieved from:
https://opentextbc.ca/physicstestbook2/chapter/resistors-in-series-and-parallel/
(2) Resistors in Series (2014). Retrieved from:
https://www.electronics-tutorials.ws/resistor/res_3.html
(3) Resistors in Parallel (2014). Retrieved from:
https://www.electronics-tutorials.ws/resistor/res_4.html
(4) Series and Parallel Circuits (2011). Retrieved from:
https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/series-and-parallel-circuits/all