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Current and Resistance of a Wire and the Affects When the Length Changes

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Current and Resistance Physics Investigation
Aim:

Investigate how the length of a wire affects the current and resistance of a wire.

Prediction and Hypothesis:

I think as you increase the length of the Constatan wire, you also increase the amount of resistance. The current is the flow of electrons; the current is dependent on the amount of voltage, which is applied. Voltage is the push given to the current. The current has to go through a circuit, which contains resistance so if you increase that push you also increase the flow of the current. All materials have a slight resistance to electricity factors affecting the resistance are: Length, Voltage & Temperature and Surface Area

Length

The diagram shows the happenings of …show more content…

This showed that the wire was very weak if given more than 5 volts because the wire lets electricity flow faster and faster which then leads to the heat eventually breaking the wire. I found that if I decreased the voltage to a reading of 1.5 volts the wire stayed in tact enough to give a good reading and thereby giving better overall results.

Voltage used 5 Volts

Length Current (1) Current (2) Current (3) Current (4) Average Resistance 30cm 4.4 4.6 4.6 4.7 4.5 1.1 60cm 2.3 2.4 2.2 2.5 2.4 2.1 90cm 1.8 1.7 1.7 1.9 1.8 2.8 120cm 1.6 1.5 1.5 1.6 1.5 3.3 150cm 1.2 1.2 1.3 1.3 1.25 4

Voltage used 5 Volts

Length Current (1) Current (2) Current (3) Current (4) Average Resistance 30cm 4.2 4.6 4.3 4.4 4.4 1.1 60cm 3.3 3.2 3.1 3.1 3.2 1.6 90cm 2.1 2.4 2.2 2.2 2.5 2 120cm 1.7 1.8 1.6 1.6 1.7 2.9 150cm 1.3 1.2 1.4 1.4 1.3 3.8

The two tables above show the results given in the preliminary experiments they both seemed to heat up the wire to a substantial heat proven by the red glow on the 30cm wire (occasionally). The results obtained below show a much better picture of the happenings in the

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