The Analysis of Parallel Dc Circuits using

Experimental Procedures
Kelsea Yarbrough, Nsilo Greene, Rashad Winston, James Daniels
EEN 201-01-131, September 24, 2013

I. Introduction
The purpose of this experiment was to measure currents and voltage of a parallel dc network, verify
Kirchhoffs current law, and finally test the application of the current divider rule. A direct current (DC)
electrical circuit consists of a source of DC electricity with a conducting wire going from one of the
source terminals to a set of electrical devices and then back to the other terminal, in a complete circuit.
Kirchhoffs Current Law (KCL) states that the sum of the currents flowing into a node is equal to the sum
of the currents flowing out of the node. KCL also states that a charge cannot be created of destroyed. The
current divider rule (CDR) states that the current through one of two parallel branches is equal to the
resistance of the other branch divided by the sum of the resistances of the two parallel branches and
multiplied by the total current entering the two parallel branches.
V1= V2=V3=E
Is=I1+I2+I3
I1=E/R1
I=Current (Amperes)
E= Impressed Voltage (Voltage)
I1=R2IS/R1+R2 (Current Divider Rule)
Our major results/findings; were finding the value for each resistor, measure the total resistance, calculate
the current through each resistor, and lastly calculate the percent difference between the calculated values.
II. Procedures
First identify the equipment used in this label.

Part One: Basic Measurements

Construct the network of Fig. 7.3. Insert the measured value of each resistor in the space provided.

Use the measured values, calculate the total resistance of the network and insert in Table 7.1
Measure RT with the ohmmeter section of the DMM and record in Table 7.1.
Apply 12 volts to points 1-2 of figure 7.3 and measure VR1 and VR2 using the DMM.
Calculate the currents (in mA) through R1 and R2 using measured resistor values and Ohm`s law and
insert in Table 7.2
Measure the currents I1, I2, and Is using the DMM in the ammeter mode, as shown in figure 7.4 and
record in Table 7.2

Determine the total resistance of the network RT using Ohm`s law and the measured value of IS and
record in Table 7.1. Ignore the voltage drop across the ammeter.
RT = E / IS
Part Two: Equal Parallel Resistors

Construct the network of figure 7.5. Insert the measured value of each resistor in the space provided.

Calculate the total resistance assuming exactly equal resistor values. Use the nominal color-coded value
of 2.2K. Record the result in Table 7.3
Connect the ohmmeter section of the DMM to points 1-2 and record the reading in Table 7.3
Using the measured resistance levels of R 1 and R2, calculate the total resistance and record in Table 7.3
Calculate the percent difference between the calculated value of R T (nominal) and the calculated value of
RT (calculated) using the following equation and record in Table 7.3
RT (nominal)- RT (calculated)/ RT (nominal) X 100%
Apply 12 volts to points 1-2 of figure 7.5 and verify that the voltage across R 1 and R2 is 12 volts.
Then measure the current I1 and I2 using the milliammeter section of the DMM and record in Table 7.4
Using the results of I1 and I2, calculate the current Is and record in Table 7.4
Measure the current IS with E = 12 volts and record in Table 7.4.
Compare to the calculated value shown in Table 7.4. Ignore the voltage drop across the ammeter.
Part Three: Current Division
Construct the network of figure 7.6. Insert the measured value of each resistor.

Measure the currents I1 and I2 and record in Table 7.5

Calculate the current IS using the measured values of I1 and I2 and record in Table 7.5

Measure the currents IS, I1,I2 and I3 and record in Table 7.6
Using the applied voltage E and the measured current I S, calculate the total resistance RT and insert in
Table 7.6
10V / 13.1 mA =.76K
III. Observations and results

Part One: Basic Measurements

12V / 13.8mA=.87K
Part Two: Equal Parallel Resistors

Part Three: Current Division

VI. Discussion
For experiment 7 we had to measure the currents and voltage of a parallel dc network, Verify Kirchhoffs
current law, and Test the application of the current divider rule. In the first part we had to identify our
DMM and Power Supply as shown in Table 7.0. We had to list the Manufacturer and Model No. so as the
Lab Serial No. The CDR (Current Divider Rule) that we used in the experiments states that the current
through one of the two parallel branches is equal to the resistance of the other branch thats divided by the
sum of the resistances of the two branches that are parallel.

Table 7.1 we measured the Rt with the ohmmeter section of the DMM. In figure 7.3 we constructed a
network using the measured values of the resistors that we used to calculate the total resistance of the
network. We used a 1K and a 3.3K resistor. The total resistance was smaller than the smallest
resistant that was measured. When we applied 12V to the network the levels of VR1 and VR2 were equal.
Voltages across a parallel circuit are always the same.
In Table 7.2 the currents were calculated in mA through R1 and R2 using the measured resistor values and
Ohms law. We also determined the source current using Kirchhoffs current law. Figure 7.4 shows the
currents i1,i2 and Is using the DMM in the ammeter mode. In table 7.2 our measurements were very
accurate. Our R1 measured out as 2.17K
In Table 7.3 we connected the ohmmeter section of the DMM and recorded the results. Next we used the
measured resistance levels of R1 and R2 to calculate the total resistance. The last calculation was the
percent difference which was 7.7%. In table 7.4 12V was applied and we had to verify that the voltages
across R1 and R2 is 12V. Our measurement was 10.9 mA. With the current Is and 12V we ignored the
voltage drop and it was still measured as 10.9mA.

Figure 7.6 was constructed using a resistor value of 1K and 4.7K. We expected that the current I1 was
going to be greater than I2. The currents were measured as shown in Table 7.5 with 1 being 11.8mA and
i2 being 2.6mA. For Figure 7.7 we estimated that the Rt would be 1K but it calculated as to be .
908Kwhich is very accurate. The currents were measured as 11.9mA for I1 , I2 was 1.2mA and I3 was .
01mA.

V. Conclusion
In conclusion we had to first identify all the equipment used within our experiment. Our
next step was to construct figure 7.1 then take the values that we had measured and put them into
the table. We applied 12 volts to our circuit then measured VR1 and VR2. We also calculated the
currents through R1 and R2 the measured resistor values and Ohms law. In part two we
constructed the circuit in 7.3 then calculated the total resistance. Then we calculated the percent
difference between RT (nomial) and RT (Calculated). In our next step we applied 12 volts and
found our voltage across R1 and R2. Some of our ending results were:

In our discussion we talked about all the things that we used for this experiment. Some of the
things used were current division, voltage division and Kirchhoffs current law. We also spoke on
what our percent difference was which came out to be 7.7%. we expected that current I1 was
going to be bigger than I2.

VI. References
R. Boylestad and G. Kousourou. Introductory Circuit Analysis. Upper Saddle River, NJ:
Prentice Hall, 2010, pp. 81-92