COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

ELECTRONICS 2 - LABORATORY

ECE 323L-3

EXPERIMENT NO. 3

“SERIES CONNECTION OF RESISTORS”

SUBMITTED BY

BSECE – III

SUBMITTED TO

INSTRUCTOR

RATING

ELECTRONICS 2 LABORATORY
(College of Engineering)
I. THEORY
A
I I1
V1
E +
- V V2
I2

I3
V3

Components connected in series are connected along a single path and

the same current flows through all of components:
I =I 1+ I 2 + I 3

In accordance with Kirchhoff’s Voltage Law

E=IR1 + IR 2+ IR 3=I ( R 1+ R 2+ R 3 )=Req

and hence,
Req =R1 + R2 + R3

Therefore, the equivalent resistance of several resistors connected in a

series is equal to the sum of their individual resistances.

In accordance with Ohm’s Law the voltages on circuit sections V 1=IR 1,

V 2=IR 2, and V 3=IR 3 and since our case E = V, we can derive for the
mentioned circuit that:
V =V 1+V 2 +V 3

Hence, the voltage on the power source terminals V is equal to the sum of
voltages on each of the resistors connected in series.

It follows from the expressions above that the ratio of voltage drop on
several resistors connected in series is equal to the ratio of their respective
resistances:
V 1 :V 2 :V 3=R 1 : R2 : R 3

i.e. the higher is the resistance in a series circuit, the higher will be the
voltage drop on that resistance.

ELECTRONICS 2 LABORATORY
(College of Engineering)
 II. GENERAL OBJECTIVE

To experimentally verify the calculation of the equivalent resistance for

series-connected resistors.

III. LIST OF FIGURE AND MATERIALS

1 set of NI Lab view electronics module (hardware)

1 set of NI Lab view electronics module (software)

1 NI Laboratory guide manual

1 set of connecting wires

LABORATORY GUIDE
MANUAL

1 SET NI LAB VIEW

ELECTRONICS MODULE
(HARDWARE)

1 SET NI LAB VIEW

ELECTRONICS MODULE
1 SET OF (SOFTWARE)
CONNECTING WIRES

DIAGRAM 1
A
I I1
V1
E +
- V V2
I2

I3
V3

ELECTRONICS 2 LABORATORY
(College of Engineering)
IV. LABORATORY PROCEDURE AND DATA RESULTS

The Experimental Procedure

In this lab we shall study a circuit consisting of voltage source +E
and series connected resistors R1, R 2, and R 3. Use the resistors on the
board based on values in the lab version assigned by the instructor.
After assembling the circuit, set several values of the voltage E.
Measure the current and voltage drop on each resistor for each new
setting of E.
Based on the obtained experimental data, calculate the resistances of
each resistor and their total equivalent resistance, determine the mean
value for each set of measurements and calculate measurement error for
the whole experiment.
Preparations

1. Make sure that the NI ELVIS II (workstation power switch

must be in position I)

2. Set the PROTOTYPING BOARD POWER switch on the NI

ELVIS II workstation into position O

3. Double click on the Series connection of resistorsline in the

list of labs. Circuit schematic similar to the schematic diagram
above will be displayed, with the component and device fields
positioned appropriately.

4. Assemble the circuit board according to the schematic diagram.

Use the resistance value on the board according to the lab
version assigned by the instructor.

5. Enter the values corresponding to used resistors on the board

into the value fields R(Ohm) in the lab Front Panel work area.

TABLE 1

N R1 R2 R3
[Ohm]
1 100 1000 700
2 200 900 800
3 300 800 900
4 400 700 1000
5 500 600 100
6 600 500 200
7 700 400 300
8 800 300 400
9 900 200 500
10 1000 100 600

ELECTRONICS 2 LABORATORY
(College of Engineering)
Step-by-step Instructions

1. Set the PROTOTYPING BOARD POWER switch on the NI ELVIS

workstation into position I (ON). The Power LED on the board and
power indicator on NI ELVIS will turn ON.
2. To start the lab, click the Start/Stop button on the Control panel.
3. Turn the knob +E in the work area, to set an arbitrary voltage in the 1 to
10V range and click Record to register the measured values.
4. Repeat the step 3 two more times, with different voltage settings.
5. Click Stop.
6. Click on the MS Excel button to open the file with the obtained data,
then save it.
7. Based on the obtained experimental data, calculate the resistances for
each voltage setting:
V1 V2 V3 V4
R 1= ; R2= ; R3 = ; R eq ; Req =R1 + R2 + R3.
I I I I
8. Fill in the Table
9. Calculate the mean resistances of circuit elements for different voltage
settings.
10.Compare the resistance values of the resistors installed on the board with
calculated values obtained through the experiment.
11.Turn the Prototyping Board Power switch on the NI ELVIS
workstation into position O (OFF) and close the lab.

TABLE 2
Setting Measured Value Calculated Value
N +E R1 R2 R3 V1 V2 V3 V4 A1 R1 R2 R3 Req(ΣR Req(
i) V/I)
[V] [k-Ohm] [V] [mA] [k-Ohm]
1 1 0.1 1 0.7 0.0 0.05 0.3 0.97 0.5 0.1 1 0.7 1.8 1.8
54 5 78 8
2 5 0.2 0.9 0.8 0.5 2.36 2.1 4.99 2.7 0.2 0. 0.8 1.9 1.9
22 1 11 2 9
3 10 0.3 0.8 0.9 1.4 4.00 4.5 9.99 5.3 0.3 0. 0.9 2 2
89 3 07 8 8

ELECTRONICS 2 LABORATORY
(College of Engineering)
V. OBSERVATION AND DISCUSSION

A. Observation

I have observed that the electronic components in a circuit can be

connected in series, or in parallel (or a combination of these
connection types can be used – mixed series-parallel connection).

B. Discussion

The components connected in series are connected along a single path

and the same current flows through all components. The equivalent
resistance of several resistors connected in a series is equal to the sum
of their individual resistances.

VI. SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES

1. What is the equivalent resistance of three resistors connected in series,

if R1 = 1k, R2 = 2k and R3 = 3k?

a. R = 1k b. R = 6k c. R = 0.5k

2. What is the equivalent resistance of three resistors connected in series,

if their respective voltage drops are equal to 2V, 3V, and 5V, and the
current in the circuit is 0.2A?

a. R = 10 b. R = 20 c. R = 50

VII. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

A. CONCLUSION

The higher the resistance in a series circuit, the higher will be

the voltage drop on that resistance.

The ratio of voltage drop on several resistors connected in series

is equal to the ratio of their respective resistances

The voltage on the power source terminals V is equal to the

sum of voltages on each of the resistors connected in series.

The equivalent resistance of several resistors connected in a

series is equal to the sum of their individual resistances.

ELECTRONICS 2 LABORATORY
(College of Engineering)
 Components connected in series are connected along a single
path and the same current flows through all of components.

B. RECOMMENDATION

Be very careful when assigning values to passive components

in the circuit (in this case, resistors). The value specified in a
component’s value field should match the actual value of the
component used in the electric circuit assembled on the board.

I recommend to use NI ELVIS II with its availble version of

software to minimize errors. Check the USB cable connected to
the NI ELVIS MODULE hardware. The tools installed in the
computer must also be checked, sometimes computers do not
have Microsoft Excel. To avoid convenience be sure to check all
those possible problems that could occur.

VIII. REFERRENCES:

www.electricalcircuits-tutorials.ws/parallel/cm.4

www.wikipedia.org/electronicscircuits

Electronics Circuits and Devices – John Milson

ELECTRONICS 2 LABORATORY
(College of Engineering)