Resistance of a Wire

Resistance of a Wire

In this course-work I will investigate different factors that effect a

given piece of wire's resistance. Varying certain values to indicate

trends and patterns. These will be the length of wire and the strength

of voltage moving through the wire. From these two variables I intend

to examine the relationship between length of wire, voltage strength

and resistance.

Resistance:

Resistance occurs when the electrons travelling along the wire collide

with the atoms of the wire. These collisions slow down the flow of

electrons causing resistance. Resistance is a measure of how hard it

is to move the electrons through the wire.

Ohm's Law:

Ohm's Law states that the amount of resistance is directly

proportional to the electronic force impressed upon the circuit and

inversely proportional to the total resistance of the circuit. This

means that when the amount of voltage running through a circuit is

increased, the resistance will go up and the current will go down, or

vice versa. This is what I intend to find out.

Voltage=Current x Resistance

V=I x R

Prediction:

I believe that as the length of wire increase, so will the resistance.

This is because there will be more wire molecules for the electrons to

collide with and thereby slow it down, this is common sense and

nothing ground breaking. Concerning the voltage I also believe that as

that rises the resistance will too. Since a higher voltage means more

electrons moving round the circuit, allowing there to be a higher

possibility of more electrons being caught and slowed down. More

electrons moving, means a higher probability of some being caught.

Although this is only an estimation of the results I am confident it

will prove to be this way.

Equipment:

One Power Pack…One 1metre ruler…Wire, all the same width

Amp meter…Volt Meter…Various crocodile clips…heatproof mat.

Method:

Firstly, while carrying out this experiment two sets of results will

be obtained. An original set and a test set.