PROBLEM sTATEMENT

1. PROBLEM sTATEMENT What factors affect resistance?

2. Research Paper 1 The factors that affect resistance are the material on the wire, length, and, the thickness of a conductor. The reason the material on the wire affects resistance or R is because somematerials have less electrons than others. Electrons are negatively charged subatomic particles,it can be free or attached to the nucleus of an atom. For resistance it needs electrons to stopthe electric flow. Therefore, the less electrons there is in a conductor, the less resistance. Alsothere is protons, protons are positively charged. Lastly there is neutrons, which are neutral andthey attract electrons to the nucleus of an atom. The length affects resistance because if a wire is long, it is bound to have more electrons than a shorter wire. In a short wire the electric current moves quicker to the end because there is a smaller distance, but with a longer wire there is more distance and room for more electrons. The thickness or area of cross section or A is the opposite of the others, when it increases the resistance decreases and vise-versa. Resistance is all about the electrons stopping the electric current, that’s why it is named “resistance” because it is holding back the electric current from bringing in all the electricity. There is trillions of electrons just in every millimeter in a circuit. You are supposed to measure voltage or the amount of electricity it brings in a circuit, in volts and resistance in ohms. Electricity can even move fast as the speed of light, more than 186,000 (300,000 km) miles per second! Electricity can be made from things such as, animal manure, water, the sun, and wind. It can be made by wind with wind turbines, water because it is a conductor, and the sun because it can transfer by solar energy. Electricity is neither, renewable or nonrenewable because of what is used to make it. Water helps electricity a lot, it is 1/5 of the world`s electricity. In electricity Electric potential is measured in volts and the electric current is

3. Research Paper 2 • measured in amps. Little sparks of electricity can go up to 3,000 volts and a lightning strike, up to about 3,000,000 volts, and it lasts less than a second! Electricity always finds the easiest path to the ground. And in the United States, burning coal is the most common way of making electricity, other ways are by using fossil fuels. In America one power plant can power up to 180,000 homes. There are different types of electricity including static electricity. This happens with friction, like when your hair raises when a balloon is rubbed on it or when you rub your socks on the floor creating electricity, and when you touch someone you shock them. These are all forms of static electricity. An object that Conducts electricity are conductors and objects that do not are insulators. Examples of conductors are metal, copper, iron, gold, water, aluminum, steel and silver. Examples of insulators are plastics, rock, wood, rubber, and basically anything accept water and metals. In your house you would probably see rubber or plastic outside of a wire, this helps you not get electrocuted because if there is an insulator on it there will be noelectricity outside of the wire. In a circuit a open circuit does not work, but a closed circuitdoes. Electricity can be transferred in a circuit. An electrical circuit is a closed loop forms by apower source, wires, a fuse, a load, and a switch. The power source can be a battery or anoutlet. The load affects how much voltage or electric current a circuit gets. Lastly the switch isthe lever to open or close a circuit. With no switch there will be no way to control to have the • circuit open or closed. All of these listed are important things to a circuit and help it function the way it is supposed to. A circuit is also a unbroken path of an electric flow. For example in circuit there is a power source in one end and two wires coming to the thing that needs to be powered,  then there should be a circle which gives the electricity, brings some back, and keeps

4. Research Paper 3 • giving to the thing that needs power. Another more complex way to describe it is that it is anyclosed loop that allows the flow of electrons from a source of current to deliver energy and then return to the power source.

5. Hypothesis I believe if a conductor`s, thickness, the material on the conductor, or the length is changed to a conductor, then the resistance (measured in ohms) will change.

6. Independent and Dependent Variables Independent Variable: Insulator, thickness, and length of the wire. Dependent Variable: How much resistance there is in the wire.

7. Controlled Variables Thickness 1) Same length and insulator Length 2) Same thickness and insulator Insulator 3) Same thickness and length

8. Materials • 3 types of wires (same length, same thickness and different insulation) • 3 wires(same insulation, same length, and different thickness) • 3 wires(same thickness, same insulation, and different length) • A ohmmeter that measures in decimals.

9. Procedures Length • Put the negative charge on one wire and the positive on the other end which should be in the wire. I used the black first. This is 250 feet. • Then put lead on the black and white wire making them touch, then put the positive and negative charges on the black and white that are not tied, measure. This is 500 feet. • Next, connect the black to the white giving you 500 feet then on the other side connect the white to the bare giving you 750 feet, put the charges on the bare and black. • Make sure to repeat each length three times or three trials. • Record all results Thickness • Do the same process with length but with a different thickness. • Then to get another thickness use the results you got from length. • Repeat each thickness three times. • Record results. Insulation • Do the same process again, but with different insulations. • Repeat each type of insulator three times. • Record Results.

10. Data (ohms)

11. Conclusion • Turns out all the factors I tested did affect resistance and the experiment did support my hypothesis.