Ex. No.

: 1
Verification of Ohm’s law and Kirchhoff’s Law
Date:

Aim:
To study and verify the Ohm’s law and Kirchhoff’s laws by conducting suitable
experiment for the given electric circuit.

Apparatus required:
Name of the Apparatus /
S. No. Range Quantity
Component
1 Resistors 100 Ω, 120 Ω, 200 Ω, 220 Ω,
330 Ω, 1 kΩ, 5kΩ, 10 kΩ, 1 each
2.2 kΩ, 4.7 kΩ, 1.5 kΩ
2 Ammeter (0-20) mA, (0-50) mA 2,1
3 Voltmeter Digital 1
4 DC Power Supply (0-32) V 1
5 Bread Board ------------ 1
6 Connecting Wires ------------ As required
7 Variable Resistor 5k pot 1

Theory:
Ohm’s law
Ohm’s law states that at constant temperature, the current flow through a
conductor is directly proportional to the potential difference between the two ends of the
conductor.
I α V (or) V α I
V = IR
where R is a constant and is called the resistance of the conductor.

Kirchhoff’s voltage law

It states that in a closed electric circuit, the algebraic sum of the products of the currents
and resistances of various branches is equal to the total voltage drop of the circuit.

V = IR1 + IR2 + IR3

=V1 + V2 + V3

I R1 R2

+ V - + V2 - +
1
V R3 V3
-
Along the current direction, the polarity of voltage from negative to positive is
considered as potential rise and from positive to negative is known as potential drop. In
the resistor, the current entering terminal is marked as positive and current leaving
terminal is marked as negative.

Kirchhoff’s current law

The algebraic sum of current meeting any junction in the circuit is zero. This law
is known as Kirchhoff’s current law. The junction may be interconnection of two or more
branches.

Applying KCL at node A,

I1 - I2 -I3 + I4 + I5 = 0
I1+I4+I5 = I2+I3

The algebraic sum of the current meeting at any junction or node is zero. In other
words, the sum of the current flowing towards a junction is equal to the sum of the
current leaving the junction.

Circuit Diagram:
Ohm’s law + A -

(0-20) mA
100 Ω

+
20 V RL
V (0-30) V
5k pot
-

120 Ω
Kirchhoff’s voltage law
(0-30) V (0-30) V
+ V - + -
1 V4

A B C

1 kΩ 5 kΩ

+
+ 10 kΩ V5 (0-30) V
20 V 2.2 kΩ V2 (0-30) V -
-

4.7 kΩ 1.5 kΩ
D
F E
V3 - V6
+ + -
(0-30) V (0-30) V
Kirchhoff’s current law

(0-50) mA 330 Ω
+ A -
+ +
(0-20) mA A A (0-20) mA
- -
10 V 200 Ω 220 Ω

Tabulation:
Tabular column for Ohm’s law
Current (A) Voltage across RL
S. No. Resistance (Ω)
Theoretical Practical (V)
Tabular column for Kirchhoff’s voltage law
Loop ABEFA

Potential drop and potential

Theoretical Value (V) Practical Value (V)
raise in loop ABEFA

V1

V2

V3

V1+V2+V3

Loop ABCDEFA

Potential drop and potential

Theoretical Value (V) Practical Value (V)
raise in loop ABCDEFA

V1

V3

V4

V5

V6

V1+ V3+V4+V5+V6

Tabular column for Kirchhoff’s current law

Current Through Theoretical Value (mA) Practical Value (mA)

330 Ω

220 Ω
120 Ω

Total Current
Formula:
 Ohm’s law: V = IR
 Resistance in Series: Rs =R1+R2+R3
1 1 1 1
 Resistance in Parallel: = + +
𝑅𝑝 𝑅1 𝑅2 𝑅3
Procedure:
Ohm’s Law
 Connections are made as per the circuit diagram.
 Switch on the trainer kit.
 The corresponding voltages & currents are tabulated for variable load resistance
(RL) values.
 By comparing theoretical and experimental values, the ohm’s law is verified.

Kirchhoff’s voltage and current law

 The circuit is connected as per the circuit diagram.
 The value of the resistor are calculated and the used values are measured using
multimeter.
 Resistors are fixed on the bread board as shown in circuit diagram.
 DC power supply of required voltage is given to the circuit and the positive and
negative terminals are connected properly.
 Ammeter is connected in series with the resistor and current through the each
resistor is found using analog multimeter.
 Thus Kirchhoff’s current law is verified.
 Now the circuit connection for Kirchhoff’s voltage law is made and a DC power
supply of 20 V is given.
 Potential drop and raise in the loop ABEFA and ABCDEFA are found.
 Theoretical calculation are done and compared with practical values.
 The potential rise is equal to the potential drop.
 Hence Kirchhoff’s voltage law is verified.

Pre-lab Questions:
1. An ideal ammeter has an internal resistance of ________________, while an
ideal voltmeter has an internal resistance of ______________. Explain why these
are desirable attributes for the respective measuring instruments.
2. What are ohmic and non-ohmic devices?
3. What precautions should be noted before measuring current with the digital
multimeter?
4. Some strands of Christmas tree lights are wired in series. What happens to the
other lights if one of the bulbs is removed? Other lights are wired in parallel.
What happens when one of these bulbs is removed?

Result:
Thus Ohm’s law and Kirchhoff’s laws were verified for the given resistive circuit.