Investigating the factors that affect the .
Before commencing my investigation, I have taken into consideration several factors, which will affect the resistance of a piece of wire. I will gradually work through these particular factors in my preliminary experiment, to eliminate erroneous parts of the investigation to make the final results that I will eventually obtain, more reliable.
Resistance occurs when the electrons travelling along the wire collide with the atoms within the wire. These collisions slow down the flow of the electrons, causing resistance. Resistance is a measure of how hard it is for the electrons to flow through a circuit. In this particular case we are measuring how the resistance of a piece of wire is affected. .
Factors which affect resistance:.
• Temperature: if the wire is heated up this will increase its resistance. The reason being is, when the temperature increases, the atoms in the wire will begin to vibrate more vigorously because of the increase of energy. This means that the electrons will have much more difficulty in passing through the wire, as they will end up colliding with the charged atoms. .
During the investigation it will be difficult to keep the temperature of the wire the same, because of the room temperature might fluctuate. It is imperative that a low voltage is used throughout all experiments, as a low current will not heat the wire as easily as a high current. .
If a high voltage is used or the voltage is changed it will make the experiment unfair, therefore making my results unreliable. In theory, the temperature will be my constant, remaining the same throughout my investigation. The temperature cannot be investigated because it will be difficult to control and measure it without the proper apparatus. .
• Length Of Wire: the longer the wire, the higher the resistance. This is because there are more atoms within the wire, so there is a greater chance of the electrons colliding with the atoms in the wire, meaning a high resistance.
