Finding Resistance of Ohmic Resistor with Voltmeter and Household Items

AI Thread Summary
To find the resistance of an unknown ohmic resistor using a voltmeter and household items, one can set up a simple circuit, but it requires careful consideration of the tools available. Most voltmeters can measure resistance directly, but if only voltage measurement is possible, alternative methods must be explored. Using household appliances may involve disassembling them to retrieve components like batteries or resistors, which can be measured for reference. Caution is advised against using the resistance of a light bulb based on its voltage and power ratings, as this can yield inaccurate results at room temperature. Accurate resistance measurement requires a clear understanding of the circuit and components involved.
DERRAN
Messages
34
Reaction score
0
Can someone explain how I can find the resistance of an ohmic resistor of unknown resistance by setting up a simple circuit using a voltmeter and household appliances? Thanks
 
Physics news on Phys.org
Thread moved to Intro Physics.

What are your thoughts on how to approach this question? The simplest answer is that most voltmeters have resistance measuring capability, but I'm pretty sure that's not the answer that folks want you to come up with. If the meter can only measure voltage, and you only have one unknown value resistor (and no reference resistor), then what else can you do? What does the question mean by "household appliances"? Can you take them apart and take out batteries, cut out resistors that you can read the color code on to figure out their resistance and use them as references? What?
 
I hope whoever posed the question is not thinking of using the resistance of a light bulb calculated from it's voltage and power ratings. That resistance calculation would actually be wrong at room temperature.
 
I multiplied the values first without the error limit. Got 19.38. rounded it off to 2 significant figures since the given data has 2 significant figures. So = 19. For error I used the above formula. It comes out about 1.48. Now my question is. Should I write the answer as 19±1.5 (rounding 1.48 to 2 significant figures) OR should I write it as 19±1. So in short, should the error have same number of significant figures as the mean value or should it have the same number of decimal places as...
Thread 'Collision of a bullet on a rod-string system: query'
In this question, I have a question. I am NOT trying to solve it, but it is just a conceptual question. Consider the point on the rod, which connects the string and the rod. My question: just before and after the collision, is ANGULAR momentum CONSERVED about this point? Lets call the point which connects the string and rod as P. Why am I asking this? : it is clear from the scenario that the point of concern, which connects the string and the rod, moves in a circular path due to the string...
Thread 'A cylinder connected to a hanging mass'
Let's declare that for the cylinder, mass = M = 10 kg Radius = R = 4 m For the wall and the floor, Friction coeff = ##\mu## = 0.5 For the hanging mass, mass = m = 11 kg First, we divide the force according to their respective plane (x and y thing, correct me if I'm wrong) and according to which, cylinder or the hanging mass, they're working on. Force on the hanging mass $$mg - T = ma$$ Force(Cylinder) on y $$N_f + f_w - Mg = 0$$ Force(Cylinder) on x $$T + f_f - N_w = Ma$$ There's also...
Back
Top