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I have neither given nor received any unauthorized help on this assignment, nor witnessed any violation
of the UNC Charlotte Code of Academic Integrity.
Introduction
The design of electrical circuit project is made up of a bread board, resistors, and a testing
device. The resistors must be placed in a specific combination to receive the correct voltage drop over
each of the five nodes. The resistors must be placed in either series or parallel. Each resistor has a set
amount of resistance based off of the color bands that wrap around the resistor. According to the colors
on the bands given to me I have the following resistors: 220, 330, 2,200, 3,300, and 10,000. I
have five of each of the resistors. All resistors are within5% of the actual value. The voltage will be
tested at each node to determine if the correct resistors were used to determine the set amount of
voltage given. The voltage will decrease until the fifth node equals zero volts. Constraints of the project
would be the limited amount of resistors, which would limit the number of resistor combinations and
the number of alternative designs. The theoretical outcomes should be close to the calculated outcomes
assuming no other unknown variables in the project.
Background Information
For this project I used multiple resources such as books and websites. Ohms Law was my most
used equation in the entire project. Ohms Law governs the relationship between voltage, current and
resistance and states that voltage is proportional to current. I also had to research the colors of the
resistors and find out what the resistance was per resistor. The basic resistance formulas were also
needed for this project. Those formulas are resistors in a series and resistors in a parallel. The equations
used in this project were as follows.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Resistors have a certain resistance and that resistance is determined by the color. Therefore we have a
color chart to determine the correct amount of resistance that each resistor has. Below is a chart that
shows the color interpretations of a four, five, and six color band resistor.
Sample Calculations
The first calculation that has to be done is the calculation for the voltage drop.
After calculating the voltage drop you can use Ohms Law to determine the amount of resistance
needed.
The total resistance needed is R, and to get the resistance I did the following calculation
Since the 5,000 is not exactly what I need I had to calculate the plus or minus five percent into my
calculations. The plus or minus five percent comes from the last color band on the resistor.
Required Node to
Ground Resistance
Calculated Node
Resistance
Node 1
4777.77
5000
4910
Node 2
6888.96
6886.96
6640
Node 3
7405.56
7370
7370
Node 4
367.89
385
390
Node 5
558.11
550
540
Percent Difference
4
3.59
3.5
Percent Error
3
2.5
2
1.81
1.8
1.5
Series 1
1.28
1
0.5
0
0
Node 1
Node 2
Node 3
Node 4
Node 5
Nodes
Summary
The purpose of the electrical circuit project is to place resistors on a breadboard, in a specific order, to
achieve the correct amount of resistance and voltage drop in a given network. I placed the resistors in
series or parallel along the breadboard. There are five nodes and each node has a specific amount of
voltage drop and after the fifth node the voltage must be zero. I must calculate the voltage drop and
then proceed to calculate the amount of resistance required to reach the correct amount of voltage. The
breadboard will then be tested with a voltmeter and battery to determine if the project was done
correctly. The calculations were written on Microsoft Word using the equation software. I also produced
a schematic of my circuit on Microsoft Visio. I did not know how to operate Microsoft Visio, so I spent a
little extra time making myself familiar with the program. The project itself is a challenging task. This
project expanded my knowledge in the electrical design and gave me a glimpse the electrical
engineering field. I took multiple hours of my day, spread out over two to three days, and researched
exactly how one might build a breadboard. I calculated the amount of resistance I had in each resistor
based on the color of the bands that wrap around the resistor. I then proceeded to calculate the amount
of resistance I needed for each node based off of Ohms Law. I did this process for each node. After I had
done all of my calculations I proceeded to put the resistors on the breadboard in either series or parallel.
The results of my breadboard were a success, although we had to test the breadboard off of resistance
rather than voltage which was the original plan. In this specific project I learned that electrical
engineering is not for me. I also learned that more research is required to do this type of project rather
than the basic research. I recommend that future students spend a little more time on the calculations
and research rather than trying to put the board together. I also recommend that students become
familiar with Ohms Law and the basic series and parallel formulas. Schematic of circuit can be found
below in schematic 1.1.
Node 1
13.7V
10,000
2,200
3,300
18V
3,300
2,200
330
10,000
I= 0.0009
2,200
2,200
330
220
220
220
DC
Node 3
.8334V
220
Node 5
0V
330
Node 4
.5023V
220
References
"Basic Electrical Circuits Explained." Electrical Information Resource. January 1, 2013.
Electrical Theory Pre-Class Reading. Electrical Theory. August 15, 2014.
Dorf, Richard C., and James A. Svoboda. Introduction to Electric Circuits. 7th ed. Hoboken, NJ: J. Wiley &
Sons, 2006.
Smith, K. C. A., and R. E. Alley. Electrical Circuits: An Introduction. Cambridge [England: Cambridge
University Press, 1992.
"Circuits." In The Electrical Engineering Handbook, edited by Richard C. Dorf. 2nd ed. Boca Raton: CRC
Press, 1993.
"Resistor Color Codes." Instructables.com. Accessed September 24, 2014
Appendix
Network 12 Electrical Circuit Project
Node 1
The Change in Voltage
18V-13.7V= 4.3V
Req = 4.3V/.0009A = 4777.77
(1/10,000 + 1/10,000)-1 =5000
Node 2
The Change in Voltage
13.7V-7.4984V=6.20V
Req = 6.20V/.0009A = 6888.89
2(3300) + (1/2200 + 1/330)-1 = 6886.96
Node 3
The Change in Voltage
7.4984V-.8334V = 6.67V
Req = 6.67V/.0009A = 7405.56
3(2200) + 330 + 2(220) = 7370
Node 4
The Change in Voltage
.8334V-.5023V = .3311V
Req = .3311V/.0009A = 367.89
220 + (1/330 + 1/330)-1 = 385
Node 5
The Change in Voltage
.5023V-0V = .5023V
Req = .5023V/.0009A = 558.11
220 + 330= 550