E2: Ohm’s Law — I level

What are we learning in this activity?

Use a multimeter to measure resistance

Collect equipment:
- multimeter
- conductive and non-conductive samples
Get your teacher to show you how to use the multimeter
Measure the resistance of the samples
Measure the resistance of some other things (your skin, a pencil lead, things in the classroom…)

Here is some information about using the multimeter:

In the picture we’re using a multimeter to measure the resistance of a lamp.

The “probes” connect up to the terminals of the lamp.

The big dial in the middle of the multimeter says what it is measuring. There are 5 resistance ranges on this one. They are marked with a green line and labelled 𝛺.

The multimeter only has 3 digits and a 1 on the screen but it can measure resistance from 0.1𝛺 to 2,000,000𝛺. It can do this by having “ranges” that you choose using the dial. The number on the dial tells you the biggest resistance that the multimeter can measure.

If you get a reading of 0, try a smaller range. If you get a reading of 1 on the left side of the screen, try a larger range.