Investigation into how Temperature affectsthe Resistance.

-Record the current in amps and voltage in volts, and repeat for each temperature.

• Calculate the resistance in Ωs (Ohm’s) by employing the formula R = V/I (resistance = voltage divided by current)

Our results indicate, on the whole, that as the temperature increases, so does the current in amps (directly proportional). As the current increases, the resistance decreases, because we are dividing the voltage by a larger number. We can conclude that as the temperature increases, the resistance decreases (inversely proportional) although there is one anomaly in the temperature of 5 ºC. We put this down to simple measuring and recording errors. Also, the voltage was not constant, in an ordinary resistor the resistance increases as the voltage increase. This is because as the potential difference across it increase, the friction of the moving particles heats up the particles in the resistor causing them to vibrate more. So as the particles vibrate, they obstruct the electrons that are trying to pass through more frequently and so a greater resistance is built up. So how does the temperature have such an effect on the resistance? The heating effect of the current makes the atoms in the wire vibrate more, due to this the atoms make more contact with the electrons making it more difficult for the current to pass through the wire so the resistance increases.