Demonstrations

Kirchhoff's Law

Code Number :	5F20.10
Disclaimer:	Reprinted by permission of Dick Berg, University of Maryland, for use on this website. The demonstrations contained and referenced herein are listed for the purposes of cataloging and describing physics demonstrations which should be conducted only under the direction of a trained instructional support professional or physicist. These demonstrations are not presented for the purpose of being conducted by persons unconnected to this Facility and/or persons not consulting with or being supervised by the recognized instructional support professional or physicist and his/her staff. The University is responsible only for those demonstrations carried out using its own equipment using established safety and scheduling policies, and bears no responsibility for those choosing to use this source material for their own purposes. All demonstrations described and contained herein are public domain, and can also be found in reference materials in libraries, bookstores, and electronic sources. Further information regarding legal liability in use of demonstrations and labs will be found on the web site Injuries in School/College Laboratories in USA. The University of Iowa Disclaimers: University of Iowa Disclaimer All Rights Reserved..
Condition :	Good
Principle :	Series and Parallel Resistors
Area of Study :	Electricity & Magnetism
Equipment :	Dry cells (4) or 12 volt car battery, Resistors (assorted), Multimeter (2), BK Multimeter, Calculator, Circuit board with Velcro fasteners, Power Supply to use in place of the batteries if desired, Key Switches.
Procedure :	Hook the resistors into parallel and series pairs. Attach a multimeter to each type circuit for measuring of voltages, capacitance, or resistances. Voltage drops across resistors may be demonstrated with this equipment.

References

Dean Livelybrooks, "'Feel" the Difference Between Series and Parallel Circuits," TPT, p. 102, Vol. 41, # 2, (Feb 2003).

Kavork Spartalian, "Rectangles in Physics," TPT, Vol. 41, # 7, Oct. 2003, p. 390

Thomas B. Greenslade Jr., "Additional References," TPT, Vol. 41, # 7, Oct. 2003, p. 380.

Art Hovey, "Nomographs," TPT, Vol. 41, # 1, p. 4, Jan. 2003.

Ronald Brown, "Series and Parallel Resistors and Capacitors," TPT, Vol. 41, # 8, Nov. 2003, p. 483.

Thomas B. Greenslade Jr., "A Nomograph for Resistors in Parallel," TPT, Vol. 40, # 8, p. 458, (Nov 2002).

Bernard Scott, "An Intriguing Problem in Equivalent Resistance", TPT, Vol. 26, # 9, Dec. 1988, p. 578.

P. P. Ong, "A Short-Circuit Method for Networks", TPT, Vol. 21, # 7, Oct. 1983, p. 459.

C. H. Wörner, "Simple Application of the Symmetry and Superposition Principles", TPT, Vol. 20, # 7, Oct. 1982, p. 477.

Robert E. Viens, "A Kirchhoff's Rules Puzzler", TPT, Vol. 19, # 1, Jan. 1981, p. 45.

Robert P. Lanni, "The Loop Rule: Kirchhoff's or Aristotle's?", TPT, Vol. 19, # 6, Sept. 1981, p. 256.

B. W. Ellis and C. A. Eckroth, "Apparatus for Kirchhoff's Laws", TPT, Vol.13, # 3, March 1975, p. 164.

G. B. Hebert, "Spelling Lesson", TPT, Vol. 13, # 7, Oct. 1975, p. 388.

B. W. Ellis and C. A. Eckroth, "The Superposition Principle and Thevenin's Theorem Using the Kirchhoff's Laws Apparatus", TPT, Vol. 13, # 8, Nov. 1975, p. 496.

Eo - 2: Freier and Anderson, A Demonstration Handbook for Physics.

"Kirchhoff's Laws", Selective Experiments in Physics, CENCO, 1962.

Mail Questions and Comments to: Dale Stille