If the resistance of the potentiometer wire is increased, what effect does it have on the potential gradient?
Practice Questions
1 question
Q1
If the resistance of the potentiometer wire is increased, what effect does it have on the potential gradient?
It increases.
It decreases.
It remains the same.
It becomes zero.
Increasing the resistance of the potentiometer wire decreases the potential gradient, as the same voltage is now distributed over a higher resistance.
Questions & Step-by-step Solutions
1 item
Q
Q: If the resistance of the potentiometer wire is increased, what effect does it have on the potential gradient?
Solution: Increasing the resistance of the potentiometer wire decreases the potential gradient, as the same voltage is now distributed over a higher resistance.
Steps: 6
Step 1: Understand what a potentiometer is. It is a device used to measure voltage by comparing it to a known voltage.
Step 2: Know that the potentiometer wire has a certain resistance, which affects how voltage is distributed along the wire.
Step 3: Remember that the potential gradient is the change in voltage per unit length of the wire.
Step 4: If you increase the resistance of the potentiometer wire, the total resistance in the circuit goes up.
Step 5: With the same voltage applied across the wire, a higher resistance means that the voltage is spread out over a longer distance.
Step 6: Since the voltage is now distributed over a higher resistance, the potential gradient (voltage per unit length) decreases.
