Lab Report 1:

Circuit X Presented for EE3305 Sec 02 Xueqian Zhao

Due: September 20, 2011 Chris Hastreiter John Ozoga IV Lab Time 1000-1200 Tuesday

Table of Contents

Lists of Tables and Figures

Tables 1. Table I: Unidentified Inductor Time Constant Data

Figures 1. Figure 1: Given Circuit Layout 2. Figure 2: Inductor Detector Circuit

Objectives
The following involves experiments introducing the proper technique for experimental determination of the layout of a circuit. These techniques apply to any unknown circuit composed of only passive components, that is, resistors, capacitors, and inductors.

Procedure
First, the unknown circuit is tested with a Multimeter across each possible set of terminals. Two things can be learned from these readings. First, any infinite resistance indicates the presence of a capacitor, and second, all measured resistance values are simply fixed resistors. These values are then plotted on the circuit layout given in the lab. The given circuit configuration is shown below in Figure 1.

Figure 1: Given Circuit Layout Once the locations of all resistors and capacitors have been found using the Multimeter, the next step is to find any inductors that may be in remaining positions. To do this, an arbitrary function generator is applied across the unknown terminals and a series resistor to look for phase shifts caused by inductors in the circuit. The setup for this test is shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2: Inductor Detector Circuit After setting the above circuit up across the terminals with a suspected inductor, overlay oscilloscope inputs 1 and 2 and enable the function generator. Any difference in the signal timing between inputs 1 and 2 confirms the presence of an inductor in the circuit at the location being tested. At this point, all that remains is to calculate the component values of any inductors or capacitors in the circuit. To do this, it is necessary to again, use the above schematic (Figure 2), but replace the function generator with a DC power supply, and only monitor the location Scope 2. With the oscilloscope in single mode, change the state of the DC power supply, and use the resulting exponential curve to find the time constant. Knowing that the time constant is equal to either RC or L/R, and that R is whatever value used in the circuit shown in Figure 2, R or L can easily be calculated.

Discussion
With regard to Box #11, the first step was relatively straightforward. A resistance of 17.98k was measured between pins 1 and 3, 1 and 2, and 1 and 4. These measurements mean that the 17.98k resistor can only be in location ?1 in Figure 1. Additionally, it was determined in this step, that there were no capacitors in the circuit. After building the circuit shown in Figure 2 above, the phase shifting test was applied to each remaining set of terminals (excluding the resistor identified above) but interestingly there were no phase shifts on any set of pins, indicating that there were no inductors in the circuit.

Upon finding a lack of experimental evidence for the existence of an inductor, it was determined that a DC time constant check would be performed anyway to confirm that there were no inductors in the circuit. The values for R and the resulting data is shown in table I below. Table I: Unidentified Inductor Time Constant Data Value of R Time Constant 18k 2s 100 Ohm 2s 50 Ohm 2s Based on the above data, it was determined that there was no inductor in the circuit, and that the time constant was due to imperfections in the power supply turn on/turn off times. This assessment is valid, because R was evaluated at three different values, which should have resulted in three different time constants given by the formula =L/R.

Conclusion
The experiments in this lab displayed the basics of experimental circuit analysis. They allowed the participants to take an actual unknown circuit as opposed to a theoretical one, and use the analytical techniques taught in class in a more practical manner. Overall, this lab provided many useful skills including a basic understanding of circuit analysis. Additionally, it was a useful introduction to the new equipment available to students starting in the EE3305 Lab.