In this investigation I will investigate the relationship between the length of wire and amount of resistance.

Authors Avatar

Investigation into the resistance of wires

Aim

In this investigation I will investigate the relationship between the length of wire and amount of resistance.

Planning

In this investigation I will choose 10 evenly spaced pieces of wire, do 3 tests per length, find an average and put the data into a table.  

Prediction

I predict that if the length increases then the resistance will also increase in proportional to the length. I think this because the longer the wire the more atoms and so the more likely the electrons are going to collide with the atoms. Therefore, if the length is doubled the resistance should also double. This is because if the length is doubled the number of atoms will also double resulting in twice the number of collisions slowing the electrons down and increasing the resistance. My graph should show that the Length is directly proportional to the resistance. If the length of the wire is only half the length of the wire on the same type of wire, there should be half the number of collisions between the electrons and the atoms. If the wire is twice as long, there should be twice the number of atoms, resulting in twice as many collisions and a predicted doubling of the resistance.

Join now!

Safety

  • Handle the power supply carefully.
  • I am going to only use a voltage of four volts so the wire will not burn
  • Be careful when touching the wire, as it may be hot.
  • Be careful when the wire is connected, as it will get hot.
  • Be careful when cutting the wire.
  • Make sure the mains to the power supply is switched off when removing the wire from the circuit to be measured.

Apparatus

Power Supply
two Multimeters
Wire
Meter Rule
Two Crocodile Clips
Connecting Wires

Preparation

Set up a circuit the same as this.

...

This is a preview of the whole essay