The Student Room Group

investigating resistance practical (gcse physics)

im a bit confused

because in the spec it says
" investigate the factors affecting the resistance of electrical circuits. **This should include**:
the length of a wire at constant temperature
combinations of resistors in series and parallel. "

so we need to know both methods?

in the aqa RP handbook it includes both methods but everywhere else (cgp book, freesciencelesson, cognito, even the practical we did in school), only the first method is taught - investigating the effect of wire length.

is the second one necessary?

tysm for anyone who takes their time out to answer. much appreciated.
Hi fellow year 11 here. I just looked into my CGP Physics revision guide, it contains both the wire practical and the I-V characteristics that practicals. The “length of a wire” and the “combination of resistors” are two separate practicals. I think it’s best to learn both practicals as the “length of wire” practice is more likely to be asked as a 6 marker whereas for the I-V characteristics practical your more likely to be asked questions based on the effect of resistance.
They are both separate practical like said in the post before, They are both in unit 2 for electricity and you need to learn them both as they are both equally important as each other i have done 6 markers on both of those practical's during my GCSE, and they are one of the easier of the practical's you need to remember as if you understand the concept behind them it is really easy !😁, i dont remember clearly, but i am pretty sure the 6 marker on the 2024 gcse physics exam was about the length of wire experiment !
Original post by permafrostt
im a bit confused

because in the spec it says
" investigate the factors affecting the resistance of electrical circuits. **This should include**:
the length of a wire at constant temperature
combinations of resistors in series and parallel. "

so we need to know both methods?

in the aqa RP handbook it includes both methods but everywhere else (cgp book, freesciencelesson, cognito, even the practical we did in school), only the first method is taught - investigating the effect of wire length.

is the second one necessary?

tysm for anyone who takes their time out to answer. much appreciated.


You should follow the spec instead of external resources.
Schools usually do not do the second part because it is considered an "easy" experiment compared to the first one.
In addition, you should have learned the series and parallel rules for calculating the total resistance, current, and p.d.
Hence, it should not be too difficult to describe the second experiment.
This is what it says in the spec


Required practical activity 3: Use circuit diagrams to set up and check appropriate circuits to investigate the factors affecting the resistance of electrical circuits. This should include:
the length of a wire at constant temperature
combinations of resistors in series and parallel.

Required practical activity 4: use circuit diagrams to construct appropriate circuits to investigate the I–V characteristics of a variety of circuit elements, including a filament lamp, a diode and a resistor at constant temperature.

so yh i am aware that there are 2 separate practicals (investigating resistance and I-V characteristics). my questions is about the 2 bullets points underneah RP 3

thx
Original post by Eimmanuel
You should follow the spec instead of external resources.
Schools usually do not do the second part because it is considered an "easy" experiment compared to the first one.
In addition, you should have learned the series and parallel rules for calculating the total resistance, current, and p.d.
Hence, it should not be too difficult to describe the second experiment.

Ok ig that makes sense. thank you for ur help!
Original post by permafrostt
This is what it says in the spec


Required practical activity 3: Use circuit diagrams to set up and check appropriate circuits to investigate the factors affecting the resistance of electrical circuits. This should include:
the length of a wire at constant temperature
combinations of resistors in series and parallel.

Required practical activity 4: use circuit diagrams to construct appropriate circuits to investigate the I–V characteristics of a variety of circuit elements, including a filament lamp, a diode and a resistor at constant temperature.

so yh i am aware that there are 2 separate practicals (investigating resistance and I-V characteristics). my questions is about the 2 bullets points underneah RP 3

thx

Please be more specific on what is/are your questions.

Quick Reply