Measure. Analyze. Learn.
This is the Differential Voltage Probe.
It's used in our experiments involving electricity.
So, it's designed to measure potential difference in a circuit.
The maximum range for this sensor is +/- 10 volts.
We actually say +/- 6 is probably the operational range
that you would want to use.
So, it's designed for battery and bulb experiments.
If you want to use voltages higher than that,
we do have a 30-volt voltage sensor.
So, it's our higher volt voltage sensor.
So, I'm going to use this with our Vernier Circuit Board today.
And, measure some potential differences
across some resistors in a circuit.
And, to be able to do this,
I'm going to plug in my voltage probe there,
my differential voltage probe.
And, when we do this, it comes up here.
I'm getting a slight reading there.
It's close to 0.
One of the things that I can do, if I want to,
is that I can actually 'Zero' a sensor.
So, if I zero the sensor, it should be giving a value close to 0.
It's oscillating a little bit.
And, what I want/going to do is,
I have two resistors here in series,
and I'm going to measure the potential difference
across each of them.
And then, measure the potential difference
across the two in series.
And it should be such that the two in series
should add up to the potential difference across there.
And, at least, be close to it.
So, I need to turn this on.
And, what I'm going to do is,
actually have this collect a graph as we do this.
To begin collection, I need to press my [collect] button here.
It goes to the graph.
And now, I'm going to measure
the potential across the total circuit.
Then, I'm going to move to where I measure
the potential across one of the resistors.
And then, I'm going to take it off and
switch it to the other resistor.
And then, take it off completely.
So, we have our data.
And at this point, we might want to analyze this.
And, what I would say is that it looks like
these peaks are about half the height of that,
And, I would hope it would be, because
it should be that the sum of the voltages, the voltage drops,
around the circuit should add up to the total voltage drop there,
from the voltage source.
And so, to analyze this, the easy way might be just to
examine a value up here; So, I'll tap there on the graph.
And, I get my potential of about 3.06.
Just kind of a random value there. So, it's a little over 3.
If I go over here; I get that to be 1.48; close to 1.5.
If I look at that one; it ends up being about the same thing.
So, it's close to 1.5.
So, if I add 1.5 to 1.5, I get about 3.
So, the sum of the voltage drops do add up
to the total drop across the circuit.
And so, you would use this sensor in labs like this,
which might be an Ohms Law lab,
series and parallel circuit Labs.
It's nice for RC time constant labs.
So, any lab that involves the use of electricity
with a battery and bulb set.
This one is very useful for that.