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1201 004
Bill Lindsey
Alexis Carswell
Craig Berwick
Electrical Project Laboratory Report

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Electrical Project Laboratory Report

Craig Berwick

ENGR 1201-004
Bill Lindsey
Alexis Carswell
October 1, 2015

October 1, 2015

Berwick 2
Abstract
The objective of this report is to demonstrate how to use combinations of resistors in a closed
electric circuit to produce specified node voltages along the electric circuit. The electric circuit
started with a power supply of 18 volts and a current of 0.0011 amps. Resistors would have to
be placed in specific ways to create 5 different node voltages. The node voltages in order were
14.37 volts, 9.53 volts, 7.957 volts, 5.408 volts and 0 volts. Each node voltage could be off by
plus or minus 5 percent. The methods used to complete this were placing resistors in series,
parallel, or a combination of both. Also Ohms laws and Kirchhoffs law were useful methods to
help calculate the math. The resistors that were given were 5 of 220 ohm, 330 ohm, 2,200 ohm,
3,300 ohm, and 10,000 ohm resistors. The first node needed a single 3,300 ohm resistor.
Second node needed two 2,200 ohm resistors in series. The next node needed a 330 ohm
resistor in series with two 2,200 ohm resistors in parallel. The fourth node needed a 2,200 ohm
resistor in series with three 330 ohm resistors in parallel. The last node needed two 10,000 ohm
resistors and a 220 ohm resistor in parallel. Figure A-1 of appendix A shows the schematic of
the circuit. The calculations and thoughts behind this process will be showed clearly in this
report by using schematics and equations throughout the report.
Introduction
The electric circuit was created using a bread board and had 5 nodes that needed to have a
different voltage emitting from each of the nodes. To achieve these different voltages resistors
had to be placed in between each node to shrink the voltage for each node. The node voltages
had to be within plus or minus 5% of the required node voltage. Assumptions were that all the
resistors, bread box, and measuring equipment all worked. Research was needed for learning
more about resistors in series, resistors in parallel, and ohms law.
Theories
Ohms law was used because it helped convert and find the current, voltage, and resistance,
see figure B-1 of appendix B for an overview of Ohms law. Kirchhoffs law states that to be a
closed electric circuit the sum of the voltages has to equal 0. Resistors in series are added
together to find the total resistance of that series, see figure C-1 of appendix C for an equation.
Resistors in parallel are the inverse of the sum of the inversed resistors, see figure C-2 of
appendix C for an equation. To find the voltage drops between each node, subtract the the
voltage or the power supply of node in front by the required voltage amount of the next node in
the electric circuit. Then to find what the resistance you would need to achieve this voltage drop,
divide the voltage drop of each node by the current.
Methods and Procedures
There are three different resistor methods used to produce a voltage drop using resistors. The
first and easiest method is putting the resistors in a series, in this method each resistor is place
one after the other. To calculate the total resistance, simply add up all the resistors together, see
figure C-1 in appendix C. The next method is a little more complicated and is putting the
resistors besides each other, or in parallel. The power is distributed equally through all of them
so to calculate this method take the inverse of each resistor in the parallel, then add the
inverses all up and finally take the inverse of that see figure C-2 in appendix C. The final resistor
method is a combination of the previous two, because sometimes you need a combination of
series and parallel to get the closest to the required resistance. Calculating this consists of
calculating the series and parallel individually then adding the series and parallel calculations

Berwick 2
together. There are two other calculations used, one deals with ohms law. Ohms law was used
to calculate how much resistance is needed to obtain each voltage drop. To calculate the
resistance needed you would need to divide the voltage drop for each node by the current, see
figure C-3 in appendix C. Kirchhoffs law makes sure that the electric circuit is closed because
the currents that go in have to equal the currents that leave, to determine this you add up all the
currents that go into the circuit and all the currents that leave the circuit and see if they equal
each other. Equipment that was used includes a bread board, connecting wires, 5 of 220 ohm,
330 ohm, 2200 ohm, 3300 ohm, and 10000 ohm resistors. Also a power supply and a voltage
reader was used in the testing process. The schematic of the bread box can be found at figure
A-1 in appendix A.
Results
The experiment had five different nodes with different voltages that needed to be outputted. The
given values for the nodes were 14.37 volts for the first node, second node needed 9.53 volts,
third node required 7.957 volts, fourth node needed 5.408 volts, fifth node needed 0 volts.
Calculated values for each node were 14.37 volts, 9.53 volts, 7.957 volts, 5.416 volts, and 0
volts, respectively. The experimental results from testing the bread board the values were 14.3
volts for the first node, 9.52 volts for the second node, 7.99 volts for the third node, 5.49 for the
fourth node, and finally 0 volts for the last node. The amount off from the calculated vs.
experimental for each node was -.49% for the first node, -.10% for the second node, .41% for
the third node, 1.37& for the fourth node, and 0% for the fifth node. This information is in a table
in figure D-1 in appendix D.
Discussion
The results achieved were well inside of the plus or minus 5% deviation that the voltages could
be within. The expected values and calculated values were slightly off because it would be
impossible to calculate the exactly right resistance for each node because we only had a limited
number of nodes to use and a limited variety. Calculated values and experimental values were
different because some of the resistors may have not been working perfectly and the machine
used to measure the voltage could have been off slightly. These results shows that a voltage
can be reduced using resistors so your circuit may have different voltages come off of it for
different applications of machines or anything that would need a circuit board.
Appendix
Appendix A
Figure A-1 shows the schematic of the circuit

Berwick 2

Appendix B
Figure B-1: Ohms Law Pie chart

Appendix C
Figure C-1: Series Equation

Req =R1 + R2 + R3 ..

Figure C-2: Parallel Equation

1
1 1 1
= + + + ..
R eq R 1 R2 R3

Figure C-3: Ohms Law, Resistance Calculation

R=

V
I

Appendix D
Figure D-1: Table of Results
Node Expected
Calculated
s

Experimental

Percent off

Berwick 2
1
14.37V
2
9.53V
3
7.957V
4
5.408V
5
0V
Reference

14.37V
9.53V
7.957V
5.416V
0V

14.3V
9.52V
7.99V
5.49V
0V

-0.49%
-0.10%
0.41%
1.37%
0%

"Kirchhoff's Current Law." Kirchhoff's Current Law. Accessed October 1, 2015.

Rider, Matt. "Ohm's Law Pie Chart." Ohm's Law Pie Chart. August 13, 2012. Accessed
October 1, 2015.
Knisely, Charles W., and Karin I. Knisely. Engineering Communication. Standford,
Connecticut: Cengage Learning, 2015.