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Does the length of a wire affect the resistance? -- A* - page 5
Keywords: Physics length of wire resistance
By georgie1 on 31/12/2009
Level: GCSE Key Stage 4 (Years 10-11)
Page Number: 5 of 6 pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6extremely concise and reliable.
Generally, my line of best fit passes through some average results and the majority of error bars. However, for a wire of length 0.60 metres, my average result and error bars do not cross the line of best fit. Because all three sets of my results provided similar measurements of resistance for this length, I am unsure as to why they do not follow the consistent pattern that all of the other results follow for the other lengths of wire. As a result, I would be inclined to think that this outlier should be ignored and measurements repeated a further three different times, to see if this is definitely an irregular result. I may have poorly measured the wire of 0.60 metres, or not controlled the other affecting factors [diameter, temperature, material, tension]; however, this is unlikely as I would have had to have made the same mistake more than once.
I have included all of my results in my conclusion and took the anomaly at 0.60 metres into consideration when making generalisations. My results have covered a wide range and I feel that they support a fairly firm conclusion because they are evenly spread out throughout the range.
Method
When completing my experiment I did not experience any major problems. Before collecting my second set of results, the power pack that I selected would not produce a current. However, this was easily resolved by using a different power pack. I am confident that the diameter, material and tension of the wire were accurately and consistently controlled throughout the experiment. However, maintaining the same temperature of every wire was more difficult. Although the laboratory was kept at the same temperature, some of the wires may have been conducting electricity for longer, increasing the temperature and therefore increasing the resistance. This may have been the cause of the anomalous results of 0.60 metres.
All of the equipment that I selected was appropriate for the investigation and I used all of the apparatus that I expected to need. When collecting my results, I used precise instruments (e.g. voltmeter, ammeter, and ruler) to ensure that I obtained the most precise results possible. This was a much more accurate and reliable way of measuring than predicting or guessing measurements. The voltmeter and ammeter measure to two decimal places, which is adequate and precise for the experiment. Because the readings are calculated
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