• ECEN 55

Laboratory Manual in Circuits 1- DC Circuit Analysis
Experiment # 1
Familiarization with Laboratory Equipment and Instruments
(Voltage and Resistance Usage)
INTRODUCTION
A multimeter is an electrical instrument capable of measuring voltage, current, and
resistance. Digital multimeters have numerical displays, like digital clocks, for indicating the
quantity of voltage, current, or resistance. Analog multimeters indicate these quantities by means of
a moving pointer over a printed scale.
Electricity -- at least in small, safe quantities -- is insensible by our human bodies. Your most
fundamental "eyes" in the world of electricity and electronics will be a device called a multimeter.
Multimeters indicate the presence of, and measure the quantity of, electrical properties such as
voltage, current, and resistance.
Voltage is the measure of electrical "push" ready to motivate electrons to move through a
conductor. In scientific terms, it is the specific energy per unit charge, mathematically defined as
joules per coulomb. It is analogous to pressure in a fluid system: the force that moves fluid through a
pipe, and is measured in the unit of the Volt (V)
Resistance is the measure of electrical "friction" as electrons move through a conductor. It is
measured in the unit of the "Ohm," that unit symbolized by the capital Greek letter omega (Ω).