Physics Support Materials

Virtual Experiments in Higher Physics

Unit 2 - Electricity and Electronics

Activities with a * are current syllabus

Title

Aim of Experiment
*Activity 1 Electric Field patterns To investigate the electric field patterns around two point charges and two parallel plates.
*Activity 2 The Cathode Ray Tube To investigate the path of the electron beam in a cathode ray tube.
Activity 3 e.m.f. and internal resistance with parallel circuits To determine the internal resistance of a battery
*Activity 4 Internal resistance of a cell To determine the internal resistance of a cell.
*Activity 5 The balanced Wheatstone Bridge To find the resistances of unknown resistors.
*Activity 6 The out-of-balance Wheatstone bridge To investigate the relationship between the current throught the limiting resistor and the change in resistance of one of the resistors in the Wheatstone Bridge.
*Activity 7 The out-of-balance Wheatstone bridge - applications To investigate several applications of the Wheatstone bridge in the out-of-balance condition.
*Activity 8 Alternating current - peak and r.m.s.values To establish a relationship between peak and equivalent direct (r.m.s.) values of voltage.
*Activity 9 Calibration of a signal generator. To measure the output frequency of a signal generator using an oscilloscope.
*Activity 10 Charge and potential difference for a capacitor To investigate the relationship between the voltage across a capacitor and the charge stored on its plates.
*Activity 11 Charging and discharging characteristics for a capacitor To observe the variation of the current through, and the p.d. across the capacitor during the charge and discharge cycles.
Activity 12 Response of resistance in a variable frequency a.c.circuit. To establish a relationship between the current through a resistor and the frequency of the a.c. supply.
Activity 13 Current and frequency in a capacitive circuit. To establish a relationship between the current in a capacitive circuit and the frequency of the a.c. supply.
*Activity 14 Uses of capacitors - a flashing neon lamp. To show the principle of operation of a flashing neon lamp.
*Activity 15 Uses of capacitors - d.c. power supply. To show the effect of capacitors in the production of a smooth d.c. supply from an a.c. supply.
*Activity 16 Using a potentiometer To use a potentiometer to select a range of voltages
Activity 17 The Inverting Amplifier To investigate the Op-Amp in the inverting mode
Activity 18 Saturation To investigate the saturation voltage of the Op-Amp
Activity 19 Square wave generator To investigate how the Op-Amp can be used to produce square waves.
Activity 20 The differential amplifier To investigate the Op-Amp operating in the differential mode
Activity 21 The inverting amplifier used to control heavier loads. To show how the Op-Amp can be used in a circuit to switch on a high current device.
Activity 22 The differential amplifier used to monitor light level. To investigate the use of a differential amplifier with a Wheatstone Bridge to monitor light level.
*Activity 23 Forward and reverse-biased p-n junctions To measure the variation of current with applied p.d. for a forward and reverse-biased p-n junction.
*Activity 24 Photodiode - photovoltaic mode To measure the frequency of an a.c. suppply using a photodiode in photovoltaic mode.
Activity 25 Forward and reverse-biased photodiode To investigate the relationship between the current and applied p.d. for a forward and reverse-biased photodiode.
Activity 26 The switching action of an n-channel enhancement MOSFET To investigate the relationship between the input p.d. and the output p.d. for a MOSFET, and to determine the switching p.d.