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Writing a Physics Lab



Okay
I have this piece of equipment. Its a board with a bunch of wire wrapped around a wooden stick. Each coil of wire is a different length, thickness or material. I believe the purpose of this board is to show how resistance depends on resistivity of the material, length and cross-sectional area.

Now my question is this..
1. How do I write a lab activity to have students experimentally show what R is? I was thinking of just having them use Ohm's law and send a fixed potential difference through the wire. THen they could just measure the current using a multimeter. (not quite sure where to measure current but I think I can figure that out)

2. Now I asked some of my electronics students (dumb of me) what they thought. They are convinced I will blow the power supply or melt the wires. So how do I do this so that I don't wreck it.

3. Does anyone have a similair lab? I remember doing something similiar as undergraduate but apparently I had a bonfire with my lab write-ups.....


Thanks
tina

Tina Fanetti
Physics Instructor
Western Iowa Technical Community College
4647 Stone Ave
Sioux City IA 51102
712-274-8733 ext 1429