Edwin Bulen

Connie S. Douglas
ENGL 2116
11-2-16
Set of Instructions: Measuring Voltage, Resistance, and Current
Introduction:
Voltage, current, and resistance are the three basic units of measurement in electrical
engineering. They make up the most fundamental law, ohms law. Ohms is voltage equals
current times resistance. A way to picture this is by thinking about a highway with cars driving
on it. The current is the flow of cars, or electrons. The resistance is the amount of lanes in which
the cars can drive. The more lanes, the easier it is for cars to drive. Voltage is the amount of
potential energy between two points, which can be described as how fast the cars are moving.
This set of instructions will show you, step by step, how to measure these three things across and
through a resistor. This set of instructions will be the basics of future laboratory testing for
various circuit elements.
Safety Rules:

Drinking, eating and smoking are prohibited in the laboratories.

You must wear clothes that can protect you from against scratches and falling objects.

ANSI approved safety glasses and closed toe shoes must be worn at all times,

Materials Needed
ITEM NO.

QUANTITY

UNIT

DESCRIPTION

EA

P/N E3600A-100, Banana Lead kit

16.28

EA

P/N U8031A, DC Power Supply

1,730.00

EA

P/N 34461A, Digital Multimeter

1,097.00

EA

P/N 34461A, Resistor, 1K

1.00

UNIT PRICE

Procedure:
Step 1:
Make sure the lab you are working in has the equipment shown above set up and ready to

go.
Take out 4 banana clips from the kit, 2 red, 2 black, and set them aside for now.

CAUTION! possible hazard to machine if user is not grounded. Make sure to

ground yourself before handling machinery. **Note, best way to do this is to
wear shoes with rubber soles.

!
Step 2:
Make sure the DC generator is turned off by decompressing the button in the bottom left

corner of the machine.

Figure 1: DC generator

 Place one the red banana leads into the positive node in output one, leaving the other end
hanging. Place one of the black banana leads into the negative node in output 1, leaving the
other end hanging.

WARNING! -The DC generator can zap you if left on in an open circuit. Only use
the generator when the circuit is built and safe to operate. Look at figure one for
a picture of the generator.

Place the loose end of the red banana lead one side of the resistor, and the loose end of the
black banana lead on the opposing side of the resistor
let the resistor sit on a dry surface.
DANGER!! -A DC generator can electrocute you if it touches water! Do NOT let
any water near the machine

Step 3:
Grab the last two banana leads and place the red one into the top right red input node of the
multimeter, and the black one into the middle right black node, leaving one end on each
cord hanging.

Figure 2: multimeter

!
Place the hanging red end and attach it to the resistor, on the red side.

Place the hanging black end and attach it the the side of the resistor with the black cord on
it.
Your circuit should now look like this.

!
Figure 3: Measuring voltage diagram

Turn on the DC generator, and set the output voltage to 5 volts, do this by clicking 1,
adjusting with the knob, the clicking output 1 on.

 Then turn on the multimeter, and you are measuring the voltage. Dont forget to turn off
everything once you have written down the measurement.
Step 4:

Make sure everything is off.

Take the red banana lead attached to the DC generator, and remove it from the resistor.
Then remove the red banana lead attached to the multimeter and attach it to the red lead
connected to the generator.

Then remove the black lead from the resistor connected to the multimeter, and connect it
to side of the resistor with no lead connected to it.

Your circuit should now look like the picture below.

Notice how this is not a repeat of the previous step. In order to measure current, the
circuit must be in series, which means the multimeter runs in a circle with the resistor and
the generator. You are NOT measuring in parallel, which is how you measured the
voltage in the previous step.

!
Figure 4: Measuring Current Diagram

Turn on the DC generator and the multimeter, and read the the current outputted on the
multimeters display.

Step 5:
Detach all cords from the resistor.
Place the red lead connected to the multimeter, to one end of the resistor, and the black lead
connected to the multimeter, to the other end of the resistor.
Turn on the multimeter and read the resistance displayed on the output.

You now know how to properly measure the voltage, current, and resistance of a resistor. This
piece of knowledge can help anyone when trying to solve electrical problems. The biggest one is
trying to see if a wire is hot or not (hot means on). Just measure it and see if you get any values!