Solderless Breadboards, Open-Circuits and Short-Circuits Lab

Today's lab activity involved familiarization of certain tools and equipment used within the lab, via means of experimentation. Specifically, knowledge of breadboards and the technique of using digital multimeters (DMMs) to measure resistance was attained.

By connecting the DMM (which was set to its ohmmeter function) to the breadboard's leads, it was theorized that both the ohmmeter function could be explored, and the bus setup of the breadboard could be discovered.

We executed the experiment by connecting the two leads from the DMM into two holes of the breadboard (using jumper wires, for ease), where the two holes of the breadboard changed throughout a series of four scenarios. The scenarios were as follows:

1) Two holes within the same row
Resistance: 0.65Ω ± 0.05Ω
The row of holes indicates a closed circuit, and the circuit (as configured) is a short circuit.

2) Two holes within the same row, but on opposite sides of the central channel

Resistance: ~ ∞Ω
The two holes indicate an open circuit.

3) Two holes within different rows, and on opposite sides of the central channel

Resistance: ~ ∞Ω
The two holes indicate an open circuit.

4) Two holes within different rows, on opposite sides of the central channel, but with a jumper wire connecting the two rows

Resistance: 0.75Ω ± 0.05Ω
The bridged rows of holes indicate a closed circuit, and the circuit (as configured) is a short circuit.

In conclusion, the experiment has shown that DMMs can indeed be used to measure resistance, via their ohmmeter function. Also, it's been determined that breadboards have independent, horizontally aligned busses, which are separated by the central channel. They also have vertically aligned busses (presumably for power distribution) along the outside edges of the board, denoted by the symbols + and -.