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IV Characteristics Practical
Characteristics of a Resistor
A resistor is connected into a circuit where an ammeter is used to measure the current through it and a voltmeter is used to measure the potential difference across it. In this experiment a variable power supply is used change these values before an IV graph is plotted.
Characteristics of a Resistor - RESULTS
These are the results from the previous practical - the shape of the IV graph allows you to identify the component.
Characteristics of a Lamp
This experiment uses a similar set-up to the previous experiment with a resistor - but we now investigate the characteristics of a filament lamp bulb.
Caution: The bulb may become hot!
Characteristics of a Lamp - RESULTS
The shape of this graph shows that its resistance is not constant - it increases with current.
Characteristics of a Diode
It is important to remember that we only connect the voltmeter across the diode in the circuit. The other resistor is just there to stop the circuit overheating.
Caution: Only keep the circuit switched on for a short time when a high current is measured!
Characteristics of a Diode - RESULTS
For these results I made sure that I used a suitable scale for the potential difference when I plotted this on the graph.
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