Resistance of a Wire Investigation

Resistance of a Wire Investigation

Introduction

In this investigation I will carry out an experiment to distinguish

how the length of a wire, disrupts the behaviour of the resistance.

Throughout this investigation I will include my prediction, method,

diagram, results and a graph to show the relationship between the

length of the wire and the resistance.

Remember that resistance occurs when the electrons travelling along

the wire collide with the Ions of the wire. Also remember when the

resistance is increased, the current will decrease. Resistance is a

measure of how hard it is to move the electrons through the wire.

The length of the wire also makes a difference in the resistance

because, if the length of the wire is increased then the resistance

will also increase as the, electrons will have a longer distance to

travel and so more collisions will occur. Due to this

the length increase should be proportional to the resistance increase.

Metals are good conductors of electricity, which is why the big free

group of electrons can get away by applying the voltage. Then if an

Ion gets in the way of an electron, and the electron collides with the

Ion then the electron, will be slowed down and the Ion will also

capture some of its energy. The most frequent effects that this will

cause would be, a decrease of current and the metal will acquire

water.

My Hypothesis

My prediction in this investigation will be, when you increase the

length of the wire, this will lead to the increasing of the resistance

and it might also release heat energy.

In a longer piece of wire, there would be more Ions for the electrons

to collide with and so this would increase the resistance.

This is caused, from the distance the electrons have to travel. When

the electrons have to travel a further distance, there is more of a

risk for them to collide with the Ions.

The free electrons collide with the Ions, causing high resistance and