Overview:
As our first lab for the
semester, we were tasked to examine the resistance of a breadboard using some using the following materials and comparing it to specific circuit behaviors such as an open or short circuit.
This experiment gives a
very basic idea of the resistance/conductivity patterns found in a breadboard
as well as how to use a Digital Multimeter (DMM) to measure it.
General Discussion:
Examining the board up
close, we see that there is a uniformity and pattern to how it is laid out.
By testing the rating of
resistance in between the many holes/nodes, perhaps we can learn more about the
behavior and utilization of a breadboard.
Lab Procedure:
To begin we checked the
reading on the DMM to ensure that we were not getting any completely faulty
values.
 |
| Low resistance in the probes seemed like a good sign! |
We then read the connections between a single row of points.
 |
| So a single row of connections behaves like a short circuit! |
This showed an extremely
low amount of resistance, indicative of a short circuit/connection across a
row.
Then, we checked the
resistance between the same numerical row, but different sides of the center
divider.
 |
| The number seems off but the DMM should have read an "infinite resistance". |
We also read the
resistance between one node and a randomly chosen row.
 |
| The same Open circuit behavior (higher than 0 resistivity) was expected between two different nodes. |
A last experiment was
conducted to observe the long bus terminal connections and how their behavior
when connected through a wire.
 |
| This last test was to observe the connections between the long buses on either side of the board. This yielded a low resistance, which can be seen as a short. |
Analysis/Summary:
From these lab results
we can conclude that the connections on a breadboard are as follows:
Where the green connections from node to node indicate a resemblance to a short circuit (little to no ohms), and any connections between different green rows will yield an open connection, meaning no conductivity ("infinite resistance" = high ohms).
