EXPERIMENT 5:KIRCHHOFs RULES

ABSTRACT

The aim of this experiment to demonstrate kirchhoffs Rules for electrical circuits.It

used any of the resistors but except the 10 ohm one.Each observation, find the value

of resistance,voltage and currents for series and parallel circuit.From the

experiment,the sum of the currents that flow into a junction,any electric connection

must be equal the sum of the currents that flow out of the same junction,it is followed

the condition of kirchoffs Rules.


INTRODUCTION

In 1845, a German physicist, Gustav Kirchoff developed a pair or set of rules

or laws which deal with the conservation of current and energy within electrical

circuits, one of these laws deals with current flow, Kirchoff's Current Law, (KCL)

and the other one which deals with voltage, Kirchoff's Voltage Law, (KVL).

Kirchoff's Current Law or KCL, states that the "total current or charge entering a

junction or node is exactly equal to the charge leaving the node as it has no other

place to go except to leave, as no charge is lost within the node.

Kirchoff's Voltage Law or KVL, states that "in any closed loop network, the total

voltage around the loop is equal to the sum of all the voltage drops within the same

loop" which is also equal to zero


OBJECTIVE

To begin the experimenting with the variables that contributes to the

operation of an electrical circuit and to prove Kirchhoffs Rules.


THEORY

Kirchhoffs loop rules is an expression of energy conservation applied to changes in

potential in a circuit.The electric potential must have a unique value at any point,the

potential at a point cannot depend on the path one takes to arrive at that

point.Therefore,if a closed path is followed in a circuit,beginning and ending at the

same point.The algebraic sum of the potential changes must be zero



The sum of the currents entering a node must equal the sum of the currents exiting a

node.The first law is a simple statement of the meaning of potential. Since every point

on a circuit has a unique value of the potential, travelling around the circuit, through

any path must bring you back to the potential. Using the analogy to elevation: If one

hikes from a starting point of a mountain, taking several paths, then finishes at the

same point, the sum of the elevation changes of each path had better add to zero.

The second law is the statment of current conservation mentioned before in the

Ohm's law lecture. For the node on the right, i1=i2+i3. If all currents had been defined

as enterning the node, then the sum of the currents would be zero.

APPARATUS

Circuits Experiment Board

Wire Leads

Resistors

Two D-cell Batteries

Digital Multimeter (DMM)


METHODOLOGY/EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE
1) The circuit was connected as shown in figure 2.1.The resistors used except the

10 one.

2) The resistance values was recorded in the table.The total resistance of the circuit

was measured with no current flowed.

3) The voltage across each of the resistors was measured when the circuit

connected to the battery and the current flowed.The values was recorded.

4) The current through each of the resistors was measured.The circuit was
interrupted and placed the DMM in series.
5) The individually currents recorded,the current flowed into or out of the main part of

the circuit,I
T.


6) The circuit was connected as shown in figure 2.2.Step 1 and step 5 was repeated.


C
R
2

R
1



B
A


R
4

R
3

D









FIGURE 7.1

R
2








R
4

R
3

R
1
V
2





V
1

R
5


FIGURE 2.2





RESULT AND DISCUSSION

Resistance, Voltage,volts Current,mA
R1 330.5 V1 1.979 I1 00.10
R2 322.4 V2 1.927 I2 00.10
R3 325.6 V3 1.963 I3 00.10
R4 319.3 V4 1.924 I4 00.10
R5 99.5 V5 3.000 I5 -00.01
RT 0.510k VT 3.890 IT 00.24

TABLE 2.1




Resistance, Voltage,volts Current,mA
R1 330.5 V1 1.010 I1 0.060
R2 322.4 V2 0.984 I2 0.070
R3 325.6 V3 0.483 I3 -0.010
R4 319.3 V4 1.446 I4 0.110
R5 99.5 V5 0.446 I5 0.110
RT 0.510k VT 3.433 IT 0.110

TABLE 2.2

DISCUSSION

The sum of all currents entering a branch point of a circuit (where three or more

wires merge) must be equal to the sum of the currents leaving the branch point



SAMPLE OF CALCULATION

Iin Iout = 0

RESULT 2.1
(I
1
+I
3
) (I
2
+I
4
) = 0
(0.1+0.1) (0.1+0.1) = 0
RESULT 2.2
(I
1
+I
2
) I
5
0
(0.06+0.07) 0.11 =-0.02

CONCLUSION

From the experiment, we can conclude that the current enter and current leaving

same and summation both of it equal to zero. It also prove the kirchhoffs rules that is

I
enter
- I
leaving
= 0.




RECOMMENDATION

1) Make sure to choose the correct resistor for each set of the experiment.
2) When using the DMM, record the reading accurately.
3) Used wound and film resistors to get more precise reading.
4) Observe the unit showed in the DMM and make sure used the same unit for all
calculations.
5) Connect the resistor based on what is shown in the manual laboratory report and
make sure that the resistor is not touching each other.


REFERENCE
Multi-loop Circuits and Kirchoff's Rules.(2010).Retrieved March 4, 2011
from http://physics.bu.edu/~duffy/py106/Kirchoff.html
kirchhoffs Rules,(2010),Retrieved March 4,2011
from http://electron9.phys.utk.edu/phys136d/modules/m6/kirchhoff.htm
Engineering Physics (CHE175) Laboratory Manual