{"activityType":[{"id":38377,"name":"Practical skills"}],"activityCategory":"Activity","completionTime":"30","cost":"\u00A3\u00A3","energy":"Focusing","equipmentList":[{"id":38295,"name":"Pens or pencils","description":"","type":"general"},{"id":38358,"name":"Scrap paper","description":"","type":"general"},{"id":38289,"name":"Calculator or phone","description":"","type":"general"},{"id":0,"name":null,"description":"A multimeter","type":"specific"},{"id":0,"name":null,"description":"Circuits and circuit components, including crocodile clips and terminal blocks","type":"specific"}],"adjustments":"\u003Cp\u003EDepending on how complex your circuits are, what components you\u2019re using and how many circuits you test, this activity will be more or less difficult.\u003C/p\u003E","firstProvidedBy":"","flexibilityStatement":"\u003Cul\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003EIf anyone\u2019s struggling with the maths, use calculators or have someone else in the group lend a hand.\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003EIf anyone\u2019s struggling with putting the circuits together, which can be fiddly, have someone else in the group lend a hand. 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The circuits could be borrowed or reused from other sessions. You could save on circuits and multimeters by running this activity as a base, with groups taking turns to complete the tasks. They must not be mains powered.\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003EThis is a good opportunity to invite an expert along to share their knowledge with the group. There are also lots of handy step-by-step videos on the internet (including \u2018how to\u2019 guides) about multimeters.\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003EBear in mind that when using a 9V (volt) battery, any resistors used should be at least 100\u03A9 (ohm) and that an appropriate current-limiting resistor (at least 330\u03A9) must be used for any circuits containing a light-emitting diode (LED).\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003EUse crocodile clips and terminal blocks to temporarily make circuits. Changing components, like resistors, should change the circuit values.\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003C/ul\u003E\n\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ERun the activity\u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/h3\u003E\n\u003Col\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003EGive out copies of the \u2018Multimeter diagram\u2019 sheet to everyone taking part.\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003EShare this information with the group. They might like to write the information shared throughout this activity on the back of their sheets:\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003C/ol\u003E\n\u003Caside\u003E\u2018Resistance is a measure of how difficult it is for electrons to flow around a circuit. It\u2019s measured in Ohms (\u03A9).\u003C/aside\u003E\n\u003Caside\u003EResistance of a component can only be measured for components that aren\u2019t already in a circuit. If they\u2019re in a circuit, you\u2019ll get an incorrect reading and could damage the multimeter.\u2019\u003C/aside\u003E\n\u003Col start=\u00223\u0022\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003ESwitch on the multimeter and choose a resistance with the dial. Use the \u2018Multimeter diagram\u2019 for guidance. Check the stated resistance of your components and set the multimeter to read higher than the maximum resistance expected. Remember to disconnect your resistor from any circuits.\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003C/ol\u003E\n\u003Caside\u003EIf you see a readout already, this is normal. Your meter should be reading air resistance, which is usually very high.\u003C/aside\u003E\n\u003Col start=\u00224\u0022\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003ETouch the probes together. This should make the meter read 0. Now, take the resistor and place one probe on each of its terminals.\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003C/ol\u003E\n\u003Caside\u003ETry not to touch the probes, as the multimeter will read your resistance and this could affect your results.\u003C/aside\u003E\n\u003Col start=\u00225\u0022\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003ECheck to see if the resistance reading you get matches the resistance value on the component. Try this out with some different resistors. Large resistors may need to be measured with a different setting on the multimeter, measuring in kilo-ohms.\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003C/ol\u003E\n\u003Caside\u003E470 kilo-ohms = 470,000 ohms.\u003C/aside\u003E\n\u003Col start=\u00226\u0022\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003ENow, put together or choose a circuit on which to test voltage. Set the multimeter to the Direct Current Voltage (DCV) part of the dial, at a higher voltage than the maximum value expected. Have someone ready to write down the volts for each circuit.\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003C/ol\u003E\n\u003Caside\u003EPicking a range on the dial that\u2019s too low could damage the multimeter. If in doubt, pick the higher option.\u003C/aside\u003E\n\u003Col start=\u00227\u0022\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003EConnect the black lead to the negative terminal of the battery. The red lead is your probe, which you should touch against different parts of the circuit to measure the volts. See what happens if you swap out the resistors for ones with higher or lower values.\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003C/ol\u003E\n\u003Caside\u003EIf you get a negative reading, the leads are the wrong way around. Switch them and try again. Always disconnect the multimeter before altering the circuit.\u003C/aside\u003E\n\u003Col start=\u00228\u0022\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003ENow, put together a circuit to measure current. To do this, your multimeter needs to be made part of the circuit, so that it can measure the current as it flows through it. Set the multimeter to the current setting; the Direct Current Amperage (DCA) part of the dial. As before, set it to measure higher than the maximum current expected.\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003ECheck that the multimeter is the right way around before sending power through the circuit. Have someone write down the reading in amps.\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E\u00A0Now, you can work out the resistance in the circuits you measured amps and volts for. This requires \u2018Ohm\u2019s Law.\u2019 This states that resistance (R) = volts (V) \u00F7 amps (I). You can also estimate resistance by adding up the values (in ohms) marked on the resistors used in the circuit. Do this for however many circuits you worked with and compare your results.\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003C/ol\u003E","gtmId":"","gtmClass":""}]}],"config":null}]},"ownerAuthor":null,"porRules":null,"id":45246,"nodeName":"Multimeter multi-you","title":"Multimeter multi-you","type":"activity","image":{"url":"/media/19839/fdl-02-01.png?width=800\u0026height=450\u0026v=1db165cc7fc61d0","caption":"FDL 02 01","type":"png","size":15417,"width":1902,"height":1100,"altText":""},"assets":[{"id":13400,"url":"/media/20843/multimeter-multi-you-multimeter-diagram.pdf","caption":"Multimeter diagram","type":"pdf","size":854187}],"headerOptions":{"headerTitle":"Multimeter multi-you","headerSubTitle":null,"headerCta":null,"headerCtaText":null,"headerCtaLink":null,"headerBackgroundColour":null,"showSEOImage":false,"headerBackgroundImage":null,"quickLinks":null},"searchDescription":"Kick back and measure at your leisure as we discover the many applications of a standard multimeter. 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