Saint Louis University

SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING AND ARCHITECTURE

LABORATORY MANUAL

Experiment No: 5
Title: PARALLEL RESISTIVE CIRCUITS

At the end of this experiment, the student should be able to:

TLO 1: Identify parallel circuits.

TLO 2: Calculate and measure the resistance of a parallel circuit.
TLO 3: Measure the current flow in a parallel circuit, and measure the
voltage across parallel resistors.
TLO 4: Determine that a parallel circuit has more than one path for current
flow, using an ammeter and miniature lamps.

I. INTRODUCTION:

A parallel circuit may be thought of as being formed by connecting two or

more components “side-by-side”, or input-to-input and output-to-output. For
example, when you measure the voltage across a resistor the internal resistance
of the voltmeter is in parallel with the resistor. Resistors or other components
may be connected to form as many parallel “branches” as desired. There are two
basic differences between parallel and series circuits. Refer to Fig. 7-1. First, the
same source voltage is applied across all branches of the circuit simultaneously.
Second, each branch of the circuit acts as a separate circuit, and thus there is
more than one path for the current to follow. Therefore the total circuit current is
equal to the sum of the branch currents.
BRANCH 1 BRANCH 2 BRANCH 3

EBT EBT
IT
EBT
+
BT I1 R1 I2 R2 I3
_

R4
IT

Fig. 7-1.

The concept of resistances in parallel is easily understood if you think of

the resistors as conductors of current. If one resistor is connected to a power
source, there is one path for current flow. If another resistor is connected in
parallel with the first, two current paths are created and more current can flow.
Each additional parallel resistor creates another path and, as more parallel

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LABORATORY MANUAL

resistors are added, more current flows. If more current flows, it is evident that
less total resistance is offered to the power source to limit the flow of current.
From this you can conclude that the total resistance of resistors in parallel must
be less than any one of the resistors considered separately. In fact, the total
resistance is less than the lowest value resistor in the circuit.

The ability of a resistor to conduct current is referred to as conductance

(G) and is measured in siemens (S) or mhos. Conductance is the inverse, or
reciprocal, of resistance. This is expressed mathematically as

𝐶𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 = 1/𝑅

The more resistors you add in parallel the more conduction paths you
create. The conductance effects can be added directly. This is expressed as
follows:

𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝐶𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 = 𝐺! = 𝐺1 + 𝐺2 + 𝐺3+ . ..

Or
! ! ! !
𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝐶𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 = " = "! + "# + "$ + . ..
!

Since the total resistance is the reciprocal of total conductance, the

equation for resistors in parallel is:
"
𝑅! = ! ! !
$ $ $...
"! "# "$

If more than three resistors are in parallel, each is represented by an

additional 1/𝑅 term in the denominator. It can be shown that for two, and only
two, resistors connected in parallel, the total resistance is equal to the product of
the two resistor values divided by the sum of the two values.

This can be expressed as

&" ' &(
𝑅! =
&"$&(
For two or more resistors of equal value connected in parallel, the total
resistance is equal to the value of one resistor divided by the total number of
resistors. Keep in mind that two resistors of equal value in parallel will result in
half the individual resistance and allow twice the current to flow from the source.
Remember Ohm’s Law.

II. EQUIPMENT/ MATERIALS NEEDED:

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LABORATORY MANUAL

Power Source - 0 – 30Vdc, 600 mA

Ammeter - 0 – 0.1 / 1 Adc
Electronic VOM
Practical Electronics Trainer
DS1 – DS4 - Miniature Lamp
R1, R2 - 1 kΩ, 1W
R3, R4 - 1.5 kΩ, 1W
R5 - 3.3 kΩ, 1 W
S1 - SPST, Component Board M
Universal Experiment Board K

𝑃𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 𝑆𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑐𝑒 0 − 30𝑉𝑑𝑐, 600𝑚𝐴

𝐴𝑚𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑟 0 − 0.1/1𝐴𝑑𝑐
𝐸𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑖𝑐 𝑉𝑂𝑀
𝑃𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝐸𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑖𝑐𝑠 𝑇𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑟
𝐷𝑆1 − 𝐷𝑆4
−𝑀𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝐿𝑎𝑚𝑝, 𝐶𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝐵𝑜𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑀
𝑅1, 𝑅2 −1.5𝑘Ω, 1𝑊
𝑅3 −3.3𝑘Ω, 1𝑊
𝑆1 −𝑆𝑃𝑆𝑇, 𝐶𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝐵𝑜𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑀
𝑈𝑛𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑎𝑙 𝐸𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝐵𝑜𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝐾

III. PROCEDURES:

Objective A: Identify parallel circuits.

1. a) Examine the four circuits shown in Fig. 11-2. Circle the identifying
numbers of the parallel circuits.
Three and four are parallel circuits.

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LABORATORY MANUAL

(1) (2)

(3) (4)

Three and four are parallel circuits.

Fig. 7-2.

Objective B: Calculate and measure the resistance of a parallel circuit.

2. a) Calculate the total resistance of resistors R1 and R2 in parallel.

RT = _________________________________ = __________ Ω
Your calculated value should be approximately seven hundred fifty ohms.

1. b) Connect resistors R1 and R2 in parallel as shown in Fig. 7-3. Do not

connect resistor R3 at this time!
c) Set the Electronic VOM to the ohmmeter function and measure the parallel
resistors R1 and R2.
RT = _______________ Ω
You should measure approximately seven hundred fifty ohms.

ELECTRONIC
VOM
R1 R2 R3
OHM
1.5K 1.5K 3.3K

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Fig. 7-3.
3. a) Calculate the total resistance of resistors R1, R2, and R3 in parallel.
RT = _________________________________ = __________ Ω

Your calculated valued should be six hundred eleven ohms.

b) Connect resistor R3 in parallel with resistors R1 and R2 as shown in Fig. 7-

3.

c) Measure the parallel resistance of resistors R1, R2 and R3.

RT = _______________ Ω

You should measure approximately six hundred eleven ohms.

d) Did the 𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑐𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑 resistances agree with the measured resistances in
Exercise Procedures 2 and 3? __________

e) What would be the principal cause of any variation between the

calculated and measured resistances?
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________

Objective C: Measure the current flow in a parallel circuit and measure the
voltage across parallel resistors.

1. a) Connect circuit shown in Fig. 7-4. Connect circuit shown in Fig. 7-4. Do
not connect resistor R3 at this time!

b) Adjust the power source to 30 Vdc.

c) Measure the total current flow IT in the circuit.

IT = _______________ mAdc

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You should measure approximately forty mAdc.

d) Return the voltage to zero.

e) Calculate the total resistance RT in the circuit using Ohm’s Law for
resistance.
RT = _________________________________ = __________ Ω
Your calculated value should be approximately seven hundred fifty
ohms.

+ -
mA
+ 0 – 100mAdc

R1 R2 R3
0 – 30Vdc 1.5K 3.3K
1.5K

Fig. 7-4.

4. a) List the total parallel resistance RT of resistor R1 and R2 as calculated in

Procedure 2 (a), measured with the ohmmeter in Procedure 2(c), and
calculated by Ohm’s Law in Procedure 4 (e).
RT(calculated) = _______________ Ω
RT(ohmmeter) = _______________ Ω
RT(Ohm’s Law) = _______________ Ω
b) Are the three total resistance values approximately the same?______

c) What factors, besides resistor tolerance, would contribute to variation

among the three values of RT?
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
5. a) Connect resistor R3 into the circuit in parallel with resistors R1 and R2 as
shown in Fig. 7-4.

b) Adjust the power source to 30Vdc.

c) Measure the total current flow IT in the circuit.

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LABORATORY MANUAL

IT = ________________ mAdc
You should have measured approximately forty nine mAdc.
d) Measure the voltage drop across each individual resistor using the
Electronic VOM.
ER1 = ______________ Vdc
ER2 = ______________ Vdc
ER3 = ______________ Vdc
EDS4 = ______________ Vdc

The voltage drop across each resistor should be equal to the source voltage
within measurement error.
e) Return the voltage to zero.

f) Calculate the total resistance RT in the circuit using Ohm’s Law for
resistance.
RT = ___________________________________ = __________ Ω

Your calculated value should be approximately six hundred eleven ohms.

6. a) List the total parallel resistance RT of the resistors R1, R2 and R3 as
calculated in Procedure 3 (a), measured with the ohmmeter in Procedure 3
(c), and calculated by Ohm’s Law in Procedure 6 (f).
RT(calculated) = _______________ Ω
RT(ohmmeter) = _______________ Ω
RT(Ohm’s Law) = _______________ Ω
b) Are the total resistance values approximately the same? __________

Objective D: Determine that a parallel circuit has more than one path for
current flow, using an ammeter and miniature lamps.

7. a) Connect lamp DS1, in series with the ammeter switch S1, across the dc
power source as shown in Fig. 7-5.

b) Close switch S1.

c) Adjust the power source of 6.3 Vdc and note that the brightness of lamp
𝐷𝑆1.

d) Measure the total circuit current.

IT = _______________ Adc
You should measure approximately zero point one five Adc.
e) Open switch S1 and connect lamp DS2 in parallel with lamp DS1 as
shown in Fig. 7-5.

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LABORATORY MANUAL

S1
+ -
A
0 – 1Adc

6.3Vdc

DS1 DS2 DS3 DS4

Fig. 7-5.

f) Close switch S1 and note the brightness of lamps DS1 and DS2.

g) Is there any change in brightness from (c)?__________

h) Measure the total circuit current.

IT = _______________ Adc
You should measure approximately zero point three Adc, and there
should be no change in lamp brightness.
i) Open S1 and connect lamp DS3 in parallel with DS1 and DS2 shown in Fig.
7-5.

j) Close switch 𝑆1 and note the brightness of the lamps.

k) Is there any change in brightness from (g)? __________

l) Measure the total circuit current.

IT = _________________ Adc
You should measure approximately zero point four five zero Adc, and
there should be no change in lamp brightness.

m) Open switch S1 and connect lamp DS2 in parallel with DS1, DS2 and DS3
as shown in Fig. 7-5.

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n) Close switch 𝑆1 and note the brightness of the lamps.

o) Is there any change in brightness from (k)? __________

o) Measure the total circuit current.

IT = _______________ Adc
You should measure approximately zero point zerozero Adc, and
there should be no change in lamp brightness.
p) Remove lamp DS2 from its socket. Do the other lamps remain lighted?
__________

Is there any change in their brightness? __________

Is the total current the same as in (1)? __________

q) Replace lamp DS2 in its socket.

s) Return the voltage to zero.

t) The total current (increases, decreases) each time a lamp is added to

the circuit. Therefore, the total circuit resistance (increased, decreased).

IV. SUMMARY:

In this Laboratory Exercise you calculated the resistance of a parallel circuit. You
confirmed your calculations by measuring the parallel resistor combinations with
an ohmmeter. Then you connected the resistors across a voltage source and
measured the total circuit current. You applied Ohm’s Law and calculated the
equivalent parallel resistance. Comparing your calculated, measured and Ohm’s
Law values of parallel resistances, you found that the three values were
approximately the same. By these three methods of comparison you determined
that the total resistance of a parallel circuit decreases as more resistance is
added in parallel. Finally, you connected miniature lamps across a voltage
source and monitored the circuit current. As additional lamps were added in
parallel, the total circuit current increased, demonstrating that each lamp created
another path for current flow.

V. REFERENCES:
Volt Lab Manual

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