Need advice on using voltmeters

[oksanav]

I don't know if this should be posted in the homework section, or here, but I've got a problem with basically my whole lab for E&M intro, (the halliday resnick class). Each lab has consisted of the labee (who is of course just an undergrad) drawing a diagram on the chalk board of a circuit and telling us to take some measurements. This could be ok if somebody actually showed us how to use the multimeter, or the High Voltage Power Supply, or SOMEthing. But instead there's just always one guy in each group who learned in his dad's garage how to use this stuff. At first I was thinking guys just all knew this stuff, but a lot of them seem just as confused. When I ask questions they go too fast, disagree on the units of the multimeter, and the labee refers to all the wires as "this thingy" and "this other thingy". I know our labs are laid back here, but I get tired of not understanding enough to write a lab report. Is there a dummies guide to this, or a website that could introduce this stuff? Thanks.

 

[Maxwell]

Well, it seriously depends on what equipment you use. I mean there are power supplies that supply all kinds of voltages -- 5, 25, etc.

Just straight up ask the lab instructor a bunch of questions on how to use the equipment. If this is your first lab with this equipment, it's completely reasonable to ask these types of questions. Most intro labs make their first lab session an introduction to using all of the instruments. That's what we do at my school.