Investigating voltage dividers

In this activity you will investigate how voltage is divided between components in a circuit and how this property can be used in electronic circuits.

Equipment

6V hobby battery

2 identical globes

100 ohm resistors

500 ohm potentiometer

Digital Multi Meter (DMM)

Connecting wires

masking tape and pen

Test 1

Use the DMM to measure and label the resistances of the three globes on each globe.

Resistances: Globe 1: Globe 2:

Set up the circuit as below:

Predict what the voltages across the globes might be:

Measure the voltages around the circuit using the DMM.

Source:

Globe 1:

Globe 2:

1. How do the globe voltages relate to the source voltage?

Test 2

Build the following circuit

1. What will be the out put voltage when the pot is set to 500 ohm?

Check by measuring

2. Change the resistance on the pot. What happens to the output voltage?

3. What is the range of the output voltage for this circuit?

4. How could you change the circuit to achieve a range from 0 - 1 volts?