Experiment 1: Introduction to DC Circuits

Experiment 1: Introduction to DC circuits.

Introduction: This lab focuses on solving for the maximum cable length possible that still is able to provide the minimum power to a load. We also would like to find the discharge time, power to the load, and power lost to the cables.

The power supply must provide a minimum of 11 volts to the load after the potential drop experienced through the cable.

Procedure:
     We first started with the circuit diagram.

Then we gathered the necessary elements such as the ammeter and the voltmeter, variable resistor, the load, and cables.










We set up the circuit based on the diagram.

Taking initial measurements of:

We then configured the variable resistor until the potential dropped to 11.01V

The cable being used is the AWG #30 wire with resistance 0.3415 Ohms per meter. The Amp-hour rating of the battery is 0.8 We obtained the results:

 Afterwards we calculated the efficiency ( Percent of Power transferred through the cable into the load )

The Maximum length the AWG #30 cable may be is 284m

Conclusion:
     Because the cable we are using is thick, the resistance per unit length is low compared to other models. One may use a maximum of about 284 meters of cable to tether to the load not accounting error propagation.