College of Liberal Arts & Sciences
5D20.10 - Temperature Dependence of Resistance - Wire Wound Resistors
Hook the desired resistor to the Multimeter which is set to the ohms scale. Immerse the resistor in the liquid nitrogen and observe the dramatic drop in the resistance.
NOTE: The resistance in the wire coils goes DOWN when immersed in liquid nitrogen.
A visual way to do this is to replace the Multimeter with the 6 volt light bulb. When the battery is connected and the coil is at room temperature the bulb does not light due to the high resistance of the coil. Immersing the coil in liquid nitrogen reduced the resistance of the coil, and the light comes on.
- Edward Roob III, Robert F. Bouscher, Ethan I. Kleinbaum, David Sederberg, and Gabor Csathy, "Too Cool Two - Service Learning and Faculty Engagement in Physics Outreach", TPT, Vol. 58, #1, Jan. 2020, p. 28.
- Haym Kruglak and Robert Scherzer, "A Laboratory Exercise Amplified", TPT, Vol. 35, #1, Jan. 1997, p. 52.
- David Wheeler, "Touché!", TPT, Vol. 35, #1, Jan. 1997, p. 5.
- Paul D. Schulze, "Apparatus for Teaching Physics: Making an Old Measurement Experiment Modern and Exciting!", TPT, Vol. 34, #6, Sept. 1996, p. 380.
- Jean-Paul Zanter, "Hot Wiring", TPT, Vol. 33, #7, Oct. 1995, p. 486.
- David Henry, "Resistance of a Wire as a Function of Temperature", TPT, Vol. 33, #2, Feb. 1995, p. 96.
- Arthur R. Quinton, "The Variation of Resistance with Temperature", TPT, Vol. 18, #3, Mar. 1980, p. 213.
- R. G. Hunt and G. L. Salinger, "TPT Notes: Qualitative Demonstrations and Experiments Using Liquid Nitrogen", TPT, Vol. 7, #5, May 1969, p. 289.
- Milan Kovacevic et al., "A Useful Experiment for Teaching Resistance of a Wire as a Function of Temperature", , TPT, Vol. 61, #4, Apr. 2023, p. 276.
- Robert Polak, "Experimental Verification of the Temperature Coefficient of Resistivity", TPT, Vol. 61, #4, Apr. 2023, p. 284.
- Stanley Edward Jaffe, Beth Stoeckly, "Audible Demonstration Device for Qualitative Analysis of Temperature-Dependent Resistance", AJP, Vol. 48, # 1, Jan. 1980, p. 88.
- D. Rae Carpenter Jr. and Richard B. Minnix, "E-280. Heat Lamp on Bulb Filament", DICK and RAE Physics Demo Notebook, 1993.
- G. D. Freier and F. J. Anderson, "Eg-4", A Demonstration Handbook for Physics.
- W. Bolton, "The Effect of Temperature on Resistance", Book 4 - Electricity, Physics Experiments and Projects, 1968, p. 7 - 8.
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