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10.5 Group Project- Outputs

This week, our group assignment was to measure the power consumption of an output device.

With colleague/classmate– Nidhie Dhiman– I helped test the output power of a small PC280LG-301 DC motor on April 6. We decided the best thing to test was how the amount of voltage changed the current– and in effect– also the power. Using a 12V power supply, we connected the PC289LG-301 DC Motor and set the voltage to as close to 0.1V as possible. (It was difficult to accurately set the voltage because there was a lot of variance when turning the knob). We wanted to starte with 0.1V and increase each test by 0.1V each time. We did this for 0.1V- 1.0V. Once we reached 1.0V, we increased the voltage my 1.0V until we reached 5.0V.

Interestingly, the motor did not begin to turn until the voltage was above 0.3V. Our second reading also seemed to be an outlier as it exceeded the trends of the other data. All of the power values were 0-Watts until the voltage was above 1.1V. The 12-V power supply we used did not have enough accuracy to measure beyond the nearest tenth. So I decided to manually calculate the power by multiplying the voltage times the current (P= V * I). Using the raw data collected, I compiked the data into a new table. I then compiled the data into a line graph (using an iPad app called Keynote).

When initially viewing the trends in the data, it appears to be “exponential”, bit the steps in the X-axis were not equally spaced. They increased by 0.1V until 1.0V, and after 1.0, they increased by 1.0V untile we had reached 5.0V. If we were to determine the “best fit line” of this data, the slope would be equivalent to the power output.

To see our work, visit our site.

File Links
PC280LG-301 DC Motor Datasheet

Last update: April 18, 2022