Results and Discussion

In the experiment, we first determined the value of the resistance of the resistors experimentally and
theoretically. For the theoretical resistance value, we used the bands on the resistor to calculate its
resistance. The first band represents the first digit, the second band represents the second digit, the
third band represents the multiplier, and the last band represents the tolerance. The experimental
resistance values were determined using a multimeter. The theoretical and experimental values for the
resistors in Circuit A are shown in Table W1. The effective resistance of the circuit was also determined
theoretically by calculating it from the theoretical resistance values and experimentally by using a
multimeter. By applying the equation from Ohms Law

= (1)

We can derive the equations

() = 1 + 2 + 3 (2)

1/() = 1/1 + 1/2 + 1/3 (3)

To calculate the effective resistance, we first calculate the resistance of R2 and R3 using Equation 3. The
resulting resistance will then be added to R1 to get the effective resistance of the circuit according to
Equation 2. The percent deviation from the values is 1.97%.

For the next part, we measured the voltage across and the current passing through each resistor. Using
these values, we calculated the resistance of each resistor using the Equation 1 from Ohms Law.
Rearranging the equation will give us

= / (4)

For the effective resistance, we measured the total voltage and the total current. We used these values
to calculate the effective resistance. Comparing this value to the theoretical gave a percent deviation of
37.58%. This was probably caused by instrumental error.

For the last part of the experiment, we measured the voltage and current for resistors 1 and 3 for Circuit
B. We used Kirchhoffs Principles to solve for the theoretical values.

= 0 (5)

= 0 (6)

To solve for the current for each resistor, we used the loop rule that states that the total voltage in a
loop is zero. For the voltage, Equation 1 was used.
Table W1. Theoretical and Experimental Resistance Values

Resistor Color bands Value from bands Measured value

R1 Brown-black-red 1000 965
R2 Brown-red-red 1200 1179
R3 Brown-green-red 1500 1552

Table W2. Effective Resistance of Circuit A

Measured Theoretical Percent Deviation

1700 1667 1.97%

Table W3. Calculated Resistance Values for Experimental V and I Measurements

R1 R2 R3
V I R V I R V I R
3.02 0.0447 67.56 1.99 .05 39.8 1.99 0.0389 0.05

Table W4. Calculated Effective Resistance from Vtotal and Itotal Measurements

V I R % Deviation
5.12 0.0912 56.14 37.58%

Table W5. Two-loop Network

Measured Theoretical % Deviation

V1 5.12 5 2.4
V2 4.51 4 12.75
IR1 0.00163 .002 18.5
IR3 0.00186 .002 7
VR1 0.62 2 69
VR3 4.5 3 50