Built-in project · no microcontroller

A divider, measured

Three resistors from 5 V to ground with a multimeter on the taps: volts, amps, ohms and continuity on the simplest circuit there is. There is no microcontroller in it: the simulator solves the 4 parts as a circuit, so it runs the moment you press Run, and nothing needs compiling.

Teaching? Assign it to your class in one click.

Beginner About 10 minutes to build and run. Runs in your browser. Free, and no account needed.

The parts retail for about $5.15. On Mokxi they're free.

The circuit runs here once the page has loaded.

What you'll learn

  • Voltage dividers and Ohm's law
  • Reading volts with a multimeter in parallel
  • Reading amps with a meter in series
  • Measuring ohms with the power off
  • How a meter slightly loads a circuit
  • Difficulty: Beginner
  • Time: About 10 minutes
  • Parts: 5

How it works

Three 10k resistors sit in a chain from 5 V to ground. The same current flows through all three, about 167 microamps, so each resistor drops one third of the supply: 1.667 V.

The multimeter's black lead is on ground and its red lead is on the lower tap, one resistor above ground. It reads 1.667 V. Move the lead to the middle tap and it reads 3.333 V, two thirds of the supply.

The same circuit lets you try the other dial positions. Break the chain and put the meter in series to read current. With power off, read the resistance. Use continuity to find a break.

Parts list

5 parts, plus the jumper wires and a bench instrument. The parts retail for about $5.15; on Mokxi they're free, and so are the instruments.

Kits that can build it

This starter kit has every part in the circuit. Each kit's page lists what else it can build.

Wiring table

Every connection, pin by pin, read from the circuit itself. Each row joins the pin on the left to the pin on the right, by a jumper wire or a breadboard strip.

Part and pinConnects to
Resistor, 10k Ω (1) pin 15 V
Resistor, 10k Ω (3) pin 2Ground
Multimeter pin COMGround
Resistor, 10k Ω (2) pin 1Resistor, 10k Ω (1) pin 2
Resistor, 10k Ω (3) pin 1Resistor, 10k Ω (2) pin 2
Multimeter pin VResistor, 10k Ω (2) pin 2

The notes that come with it

There is no microcontroller in this one, so nothing is compiled: the simulator solves the circuit itself. The file in the editor is the notes that come with it.

sketch.ino
// A divider, and a meter on it.
//
// Three 10 k resistors from 5 V down to ground. No current goes anywhere else,
// so the same current is in all three and each one drops the same third of the
// supply:
//
//   I = 5 V / 30 k = 167 uA
//   each resistor  = 167 uA x 10 k = 1.667 V
//
// The meter's red lead is on the lower tap, which is one resistor above
// ground, so it reads 1.667 V. Move it to the middle tap (the strip at column
// 14) and it reads 3.333 V, which is two thirds of the supply.
//
// The other three positions on the dial, all on this one circuit:
//
//   A=   break the chain and put the meter in series (red lead to the A jack,
//        which is the one that carries current) and it reads 167 uA. The
//        meter's shunt is 1 ohm, so it costs the circuit 167 microvolts to
//        measure it.
//   O    stop the simulation, take the 5 V supply off, and the ohms range
//        reads 10 k across one resistor and 20 k across two. Ohms pushes its
//        own small test current, so it only means anything with the power off.
//   .)   continuity. Across a resistor, nothing; across a plain wire, the lamp
//        lights, which is how you find the break in a circuit that should work.
//
// The meter loads what it measures, exactly as a real one does: 10 Mohm across
// the lower tap next to a 6.7 k source pulls it down by 6.7 k / 10.0067 Mohm,
// which is seven hundredths of a percent, and that is why it reads 1.666
// rather than the 1.667 the arithmetic above gives.

Troubleshooting

The usual mistakes with this circuit, and the fix for each.

  • The ohms range shows a strange value This project
    Stop the simulation and remove the 5 V supply first. The ohms range only means something with the power off.
  • The current reading is zero or the circuit stops This project
    To read amps, break the chain and put the meter in series, with the red lead on the A jack. Do not leave it across a resistor.
  • The LED is dim, burns out, or the pin reads wrong because the resistor value is off. Resistor
    Read the color bands again. A 220 ohm to 330 ohm resistor suits a typical LED on 5 V. 10k is a common pull-up or pull-down value. Check with a multimeter if unsure.
  • A pull-up or pull-down resistor is missing, so the input floats and reads random values. Resistor
    Tie the input to 5 V or ground through about 10k. Or use INPUT_PULLUP and wire the switch to ground.
  • The reading is zero, negative or nonsense when measuring voltage. Multimeter
    Set the dial to volts first, then touch the probes across the part, in parallel. Red goes to the more positive point. A negative number just means the probes are swapped.
  • Measuring current gives zero or blows the meter's fuse. Multimeter
    Current must flow through the meter, so break the circuit and put the meter in series. Never put an amps setting straight across a supply. Start with the highest current range.

Change it and keep it

Open it in the editor, change the circuit or the code, and keep your version in a free account.