Experiment

17
Temperature Coefficient of Resistivity

1. Introduction

Resistance of any material varies with temperature. For temperature range that is not too
great, this variation can be represented approximately as a linear relation

RT = Ro [1 + α(T – To)] (1)

where RT and Ro are the values of the resistance at temperature T and To, respectively. To is
often taken to be either room temperature or 0o C. α is the temperature coefficient of resistivity.
Pure metals have a small, positive value of α, which means that their resistance increases with
increasing temperature. From temperature measurements of R you can find α. To do this you
will plot resistance values versus T, and approximate the results with a straight line. The
intercept of this line with the resistance axis is Ro, and the slope divided by Ro is the values of α.

35
40

30
A 35 B
30
25

25
20

R 15
R 20

15

10
10

5
5

0 0

T
0 5 1 0 1 5 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 20

T
Fig. 1. Variation of resitivity with temperature of a metal (A) and a semiconductor (B).

There are materials in which resistance decreases with increasing temperature. A

thermistor is an example of such a material. It is made of semiconductors, such as oxides of
manganese, nickel and cobalt mixed in the desired proportion with a binder and pressed into
shape. Thermistors are very sensitive to even small changes of temperature, therefore they are
often used as thermometers (for example, you will use thermistors in Lab 23 to determine
temperature of water). The change of resistance of a thermistor caused by temperature change is
a nonlinear function and can be approximated by the following formula:

RT = Ro exp [β(1/T – 1/To)] (2)

where RT and Ro are the resistance values at absolute temperatures T and To (on the Kelvin
scale), β is a constant over a limited temperature range and characterizes a property of material.
The unit of β is degree Kelvin. Equation 2 can be expressed as

ln (RT/Ro) = β(1/T – 1/To) (3)

When the resistance is measured at various temperatures and the ln(RT/Ro) is plotted against
(1/T – 1/To), a straight line is formed. β can be found from the slope of that line.

Fig. 2. Temperature dependence of resistance for an alloy (left) and a carbon resistor (right).

Some materials have very complicated temperature dependencies of resistance. For

example, nichrome wire, used as a heating element in most space heaters, practically does not
change its resistance in the temperature range between 0o C and 100o C. Fig. 2A illustrates this
dependence, and it could be approximated by Eq. 1. For other materials, such as carbon
resistors, R may be constant for a narrow temperature range and show a large effect beyond that
range. Fig. 2B shows an exaggerated temperature dependence for this type of material.

2. Procedure

Open the plastic box with resistors and fill it with water. The resistors should be
completely immersed in water. Close the box and secure the cover with electrical connections
inside. Insert a thermometer, it should be immersed in water to the level indicated by a horizontal
line. Connect the binding post of the terminal to an ohmmeter. Stir the water thoroughly and
record the initial values of temperature and resistors in the box. Use the rotary switch to measure
resistance of each of the resistors.
 Turn the heater on by closing the switch on the top plate of the box. Increase the
temperature by about 5 degrees. Keep stirring the water. Turn the heater off and continue
stirring until water reaches thermal equilibrium. Record the resistance of each resistor in the box
and the temperature. Repeat this procedure in approximately 5o C intervals until you have at
least 10 readings or the temperature reaches 90o C. Do not increase the temperature above 90o C.
Record the data in Table 1.
To reduce the error use the same setting of the ohmmeter for the same resistors. Because
the materials whose resistance you will measure have different values of R you will have to set
the ohmmeter to ranges appropriate for each element. Remember to use the same ranges for each
of the resistors.

Table 1. Results
Temperature Resistance Resistance Resistance Resistance Resistance
[o C] [Ω] [Ω] [Ω] [Ω] [Ω]
conductor 1 conductor 2 conductor 3 conductor 4 conductor 5

3. Report

Examine the data in Table I and identify the metals, the thermistor, the carbon resistor,
and the alloy.

For the two metal resistors and the alloy use Equation 1 to determine the thermal
coefficient of resistance, α. Plot normalized resistance, RT/Ro, versus T and from the slope of the
straight line drawn through the experimental points find α. I recommend that you use Excel or
another software and a fitting routine to determine the slope. Ro is the value of the resistance at
room temperature. Identify the metals by comparing the obtained results with the values in Table
2.

For the thermistor plot a graph of ln(RT/Ro) versus (1/T - 1/To) and find the slope of the
straight line, which is the value of β in Eq. 3.
Table 2. Temperature coefficient of resistivity for selected materials
Conductor α [(o C)-1]
Copper 4.29 x 10-3
Iron 6.41 x 10-3
Nickel 6.00 x 10-3
Platinum 3.93 x 10-3
Mercury 0.89 x 10-3
Chromel (alloy of chromium and aluminum) 0.58 x 10-3
Nichrome (alloy of nickel and chromium) 0.40 x 10-3

For the carbon resistor plot R vs. T and determine the maximum temperature for which
the resistance is approximately the same as at room temperature.

In the discussion section explain how you identified the materials and estimated the
experimental errors. Estimate the precision of the constants α and β.

In the introduction use a collision model between electrons and nuclei to explain why
resistance of pure metals increases with increasing temperature.