An investigation into the effect of the length of nichrome wire on resistance

of nichrome

Research question: What is the effect of the length of nichrome wire on resistance?

Hypothesis: I predict that as the length of wire increases, the resistance will also increase
linearly. The nichrome wire acts as a resistor in the electrical circuit. A resistor is “an
electrical component that limits or regulates the flow of electrical current in an electronic
circuit.”1 It does this as it has resistance against the current where the atoms collide with the
electrons of the current flowing to reduce the speed of the electrons moving through the
circuit. According to the equation R = ρ ( L/A), the resistance of the wire depends on the
resistivity of the wire, length of the wire and the cross-sectional area of the wire. The
equation shows that the resistance and the length of the wire is proportional and hence have a
linear relationship. When the length of the resistor wire increases, it means that it would have
more atoms and would mean more electrons would collide with them, and hence have higher
resistance.

1
TechTarget Contributor. 2021. “Resistor”. TechTarget. December 2021. Accessed on 30th May 2022.
https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/definition/resistor
Table of variables:
type of
variable variable method
 The length of wire will vary at a constant interval of 2.5m,
2.0m, 1.5m, 1.0m, 0.5m. To measure the length of the wire, I
will use a 1m long ruler and move the crocodile clip of the
independent  Length of wire electrical probe to reduce the length.
Resistance is “a measure of the opposition to current flow in an
electrical circuit”2. The resistance will be measured and
 Resistance of calculated by using an ammeter and voltmeter to measure the
dependant nichrome current and voltage and use Ohm’s law: R (Ω) = V(v)/ I(A).
 According to the equation R = ρ ( L/A), the resistance is
affected by the resistivity of the wire. This is dependent on the
material of the wire and how conductive the material of the
 Type/material wire is. The material of the wire will be controlled by using
of wire nichrome wire for all trials.
 As the equation R = ρ ( L/A) states that the resistance is
 Cross- affected by the cross-sectional area of the wire, it is needed to
sectional area be controlled. It will be controlled by using wire of 0.20mm
of the wire diameter for all trials.
 According to the equation R= V/I, the resistance is voltage
over current. The power supply has to be kept controlled as the
 Voltage of the voltage and current depends on it. To control the voltage of the
battery power battery source, the voltage of the battery will be kept constant
source throughout the entire experiment.
 When the temperature increases, there is higher kinetic energy
and hence higher collision of the electrons with the atoms. This
will also increase resistance. To control the temperature, the
experiment will take place in one location at one time in an
controlled  temperature indoor space where the temperature does not fluctuate a lot.

Materials:
2
Glen A, Mazur. N/A. “What is resistance?”. Fluke. Accessed on 30th May 2022.
https://www.fluke.com/en-gb/learn/blog/electrical/what-is-resistance
1 x battery power source 1 x 1m long ruler
1 x Ammeter 2 x connecting wires
1 x Voltmeter 2 x crocodile clips
1 x 2.5m nichrome wire of 0.20 mm
diameter

Method:
1) Set up the circuit as shown in the diagram below
2) Get the 2.5-meter-long nichrome wire and clip the crocodile clips to the edges of the
wires
3) Without touching the wire, turn on the battery power source and keep it at a constant
voltage
4) Record the reading from the Ammeter and the Voltmeter
5) Repeat steps 1 to 4 for two more additional trials
6) Reduce the length of the wire by reducing the length of wire between the crocodile clips
7) Repeat steps 1 to 6 for each length measurement

Diagram:

Raw data table:

 Voltage (v) Current (A)
Length of the wire (m) Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3 Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3
0.50 9.02 9.04 8.74 0.37 0.40 0.41
1.00 8.90 9.18 9.22 0.17 0.16 0.15
1.50 9.27 9.13 9.35 0.09 0.09 0.09
2.00 9.14 9.27 9.18 0.07 0.08 0.06
2.50 9.34 9.33 9.36 0.03 0.02 0.04

Processed data tables:

length of the wire average average current uncertainty of uncertainty of
(m) voltage (v) (A) voltage (v) current (A)
0.50 8.93 0.39 0.15 0.02
1.00 9.10 0.16 0.16 0.01
1.50 9.25 0.09 0.11 0
2.00 9.20 0.07 0.06 0.01
2.50 9.34 0.03 0.01 0.01

average resistance
length of the wire (m) (Ω) uncertainty of resistance (Ω)
0.50 22.71 1.55
1.00 56.88 4.56
1.50 102.78 1.22
2.00 131.38 19.63
2.50 311.44 44.64

Calculations:
Below you will find calculations for the length of wire of 2.5m (the values were all rounded
up to 2 decimal places)
Average voltage: (9.34+9.33+9.36)/3=9.34v
Average current: (0.03+0.02+0.04)/3=0.03A
Average resistance: 9.34/0.03=311.44 Ω
Uncertainty of voltage: (9.36-9.33)/2=0.01v
Uncertainty of current: (0.04-0.02)/2=0.01A
Uncertainty of resistance: 311.44((0.01/9.34)+(0.01/0.03))=44.64 Ω
Graph:
 Average resistance (Ω) vs Length of wire (±0.005m)
350.00

300.00

250.00
average resistance (Ω)

f(x) = 130.394222491256 x − 70.5533259348935

R² = 0.843386487593495
200.00

150.00

100.00

50.00

0.00
0.00 0.50 1.00 1.50 2.00 2.50 3.00

Length of Wire (±0.005m )

Graph analysis:
The graph shows that the correlation between the average resistance and the length of wire is
strong, positive, and linear for the data points studied.

The linear best-fit line has an equation of y=130.39x - 70.553, which means that as the length
of the wire increases by 1m, the resistance increases by 130.39. the line of best-fit,
however, does not pass through the origin or any of the vertical error bars except for point
where the length of wire is 1.00m. this suggests that my data for resistance is not reliable.
furthermore, the R2 value of this graph is 0.8434 which is a relatively low value which
suggests the best-fit line is not a very reliable representation of the data which I have
collected.

Conclusion and discussion

The aim in this experiment was to investigate the correlation between the length of wire and
the resistance. In order to find the correlation between the resistance of nichrome and the
length of the nichrome wire, the resistance of nichrome at different lengths of wires, which
were changed by a constant of 0.5m, were measured and calculated. During the experiment,
the readings for the voltage and current were collected using the ammeter and voltmeter and
were used to calculate the resistance with the equation R= V/I. The graph I produced from the
processed data table of the average resistance and the length of the wire has a linear, positive
best-fit line with a gradient of 130.39. This means that the resistance increases by a constant
of 130.39.

With the data I collected of the correlation between the resistance and the length of the wire, I
found the resistivity of nichrome = 130.39 * π * (0.0001m)2 = 4.1*10-6 Ωm. This does not
match the resistivity of nichrome according to The Physics Factbook which shows that
nichrome has a resistivity ranging from 1.10 × 10−6 Ωm to 1.50 × 10−6 Ωm. This suggests that
the measurements from my experiment were inaccurate.

The data which I have collected in this experiment strongly supports my hypothesis, since as
the length of wire increases by 1m, the resistance of nichrome increases by 130.39 Ω,
therefore the resistance increases as the length of wire increases and in my hypothesis, I
stated that I predict that as the length of wire increases, the resistance will also increase
linearly.

Although there were no limitations in the data analysis, there were some limitations of human
error in the experiment such as the inaccuracy of the wire lengths’ readings due to the wires
not being completely straight and having small loops in between as well as using a 1m long
ruler to measure lengths larger than 1m as well as the values shown on the voltmeter and
ammeter constantly changing in values.

The inaccurate recording of results is shown and supported by the processed data table as
some of the error bar values are relatively large, meaning that the trials may have been not
completely controlled and the measurements were inaccurate to a certain extent. Furthermore,
in the graph, most of the error bars do not have the best-fit line passing through and the R2
value is relatively low with a value of 0.8434, meaning that the best-fit line was not a reliable
representation of my data.

Seeing that my readings were not very accurate and that the best-fit line was not a reliable
representation of my data, I could make some improvements in my methods of experiments
to increase the reliability of my data and scientific evidence.

Evaluation
 Limitation Effect on data Suggested improvement
Using a 1m-long- By using a ruler shorter than the length of wire we We could use a ruler
ruler needed, the length which we measured may have that is at least 2.5m
been wrong. When we measured the wire for 2.5m, long.
we had to measure the wire up to 1m, point our
finger at the point of 1m and move the ruler up
from that point to another to reach 2.5m. during this
process, a human error may have occurred where
our finger was not placed at the exact point or
moved from the point, causing wrong length
measurements.
The nichrome The loops which the nichrome wire would have We could use a
was not affected the length of wire shown on the ruler as completely straight wire
completely more loops would make the length shorter, hence rod.
straight and had a this may have caused our measurements to be
few small loops wrong.
throughout.
The voltmeter and With the readings for the voltage and current The readings frequently
ammeter frequently changing, the measurements for the changing is due to the
frequently voltage and current may have been wrong. This weak connections.
changed readings would have affected the calculations for resistance Therefore, I could use
as the resistance was calculated using the equation connection wires and
R=V/I. crocodile clips with
stronger connection for
more stable values.

Bibliography:
1) Glen A, Mazur. N/A. “What is resistance?”. Fluke. Accessed on 30th May 2022.
https://www.fluke.com/en-gb/learn/blog/electrical/what-is-resistance
2) Kwan, H. 2007. “Resistivity of Nichrome”. The Physics Factbook. Accessed on 30th
May 2022. https://hypertextbook.com/facts/2007/HarveyKwan.shtml