Resistance Coursework – Some Useful Things
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Resistance Coursework
Planning:
Investigate how the length of a wire affects the current and resistance of a wire.
Variables
The variables that could change resistance are:
Length of the wire
Cross section area (thickness)
Changing materials
Changing temperatures
The variable I am going to change in my experiment is the length of the wire.
Prediction and Hypothesis
I think as you increase the length of the Constantan wire, you also increase the amount of resistance. The current is the flow of electrons; the current is dependent on the amount of voltage, which is applied. Voltage is the push given to the current. The current has to go through a circuit, which contains resistance so if you increase that push you also increase the flow of the current. All materials have a slight resistance to electricity factors affecting the resistance are: Length, Voltage & Temperature and Surface Area.
Preliminary Work
Changing only the length of the wire
Length
Voltage (V)
Current (A)
Resistance ()
Short
20.96
23.16
Longest
29.36
Conclusion: the longer the wire, the higher the resistance
Changing only the cross section area of the wire
Thickness
Voltage (V)
Current (A)
Resistance ()
Single
3.26
Double
2.24
Triple
2.09
Conclusion: the thicker the wire, the lower the resistance
Changing Materials
Material
Voltage (V)
Current (A)
Resistance ()
Constantan
11.47
Aluminium
0.21
Conclusion: different materials conduct electricity better
Changing Temperatures
Temperature
Voltage (V)
Current (A)
Resistance ()
0.34