Investigation

Aim:
How does changing the voltage affect the resistance of the wire (Nickel Chronium
SWG)?

Hypothesis:
When increasing the voltage, the resistance will also increase as well as the current.

Variables Factor Description
Independent Voltage The voltage will be
increased by one volt at a
time.
Dependent Resistance
Current
I will measure the current
with an ammeter and I will
calculate the resistance by
dividing the current by the
voltage.
Controlled Length of the wire
Conductivity
All the wires will be the
same length which is
10cm.
I will be testing all the
wires one by one, at a time
easily collect my data.

List of Materials Needed:
2 pieces of wire, both 10cm
Voltmeter
Ammeter
Power pack
Ruler
Crocodile clips

Method Procedure:
1. Set up the circuit and check all plugs to see if they are plugged in properly.
2. Prepare the wires by cutting them in to 2 pieces, both are 10cm
3. Clip the clips on to the first wire to test out.
4. Turn on the power pack and set it to 4 volts (this will increase every time I
repeat this step)
5. Collect data from the voltmeter and the ammeter.
6. Turn off the power pack
7. Repeat steps 4-7 and remember to increase the volts by one every time. Also
to let the wire cool down, change to the other wire every time you finish with
the testing wire.
8. Test the wire until the power pack reaches 10 volts then stop and clean up.

Diagram:

Raw Data Table:

Voltage
Power
Pack (V)
Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3
Voltage(V) Current(A) Voltage(V) Current(A) Voltage(V) Current(A)
4 0.06 0.19 0.06 0.19 0.06 0.19
5 0.08 0.23 0.07 0.23 0.08 0.23
6 0.09 0.26 0.08 0.26 0.09 0.26
7 0.10 0.29 0.10 0.29 0.10 0.29
8 0.10 0.32 0.11 0.32 0.11 0.32
9 0.12 0.35 0.12 0.35 0.12 0.35
10 0.12 0.37 0.13 0.38 0.12 0.38

Observations:
Every time the voltage is increased, the current also increases which affects
the resistance
The wire gets warmer every time I test it out, so I would switch the wires back
and forth
The resistance are very similar to each other when there isnt a big difference
between the voltages

Processed Data Table:

Resistance ()
Voltage Power Pack (V) Trial 1
()
Trial 2
()
Trial 3
()
Average
()
4 0.32 0.32 0.32 0.32
5 0.35 0.30 0.35 0.33
6 0.39 0.35 0.35 0.36
7 0.34 0.34 0.34 0.34
8 0.31 0.34 0.34 0.33
9 0.34 0.34 0.34 0.34
10 0.32 0.34 0.32 0.33




0.31
0.32
0.33
0.34
0.35
0.36
0.37
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
R
e
s
i
s
t
a
n
c
e

(

)


Power Pack (V)
Average Resistance
Conclusion:
After collecting my data about my independent and dependent variable I have
found that the results follow my hypothesis, which was that the resistance would
increase if I were to increase the voltage as well. My independent and dependent
variable graph was accurate to my findings.

Evaluation:
My data is reliable because I tested all of the wires out 3 times every time I
increased the voltage and they are precise because when I calculated the average of all
the resistance they were all similar to one another because I had used a digital
ammeter and voltmeter.

- Evaluate your procedure. Is it valid? Does it have limitations? How can it be
improved? (Was your procedure good enough to produce results that you can trust?
Why/why not?)
- What errors occurred? How did they affect your experiment? How can the
experiment be improved to reduce or eliminate each error?
- Based on your experience in this experiment, what experiment would you do next?
or how would you expand this experiment?]

Improvements:

Issue Impact Improvement
The resistance was
unreliable because for
some results they were the
same as the other voltages.
The wire got heated up
every time so I would
switch it with another
piece of wire I had and I
test each of the wire 7
seconds each to be exact.
I should wait longer so the
wire can cool down so the
results are more accurate
when Im finding the
average resistance.

Extensions:
Describe extensions to the method, which would benefit scientific
investigation, for example, collecting the data over a wider range.

If I had tested each of the wires 5 times instead I would think that it would be
accurate and if I had tested them each for a longer time such as 10 seconds each then
it would be easier as well.