Acknowledgement

I express my gratitude towards my guide Ms. Pushali Bhattacharjee

for her extended guidance and support for completion of this project
work. I would give my special thanks to Mr. Chandra Banarjee,
Principal of Sri Krishna Mission School, for his great support by
motivating and encouraging in every endeavor of ours. I want to
thank my friends for their contribution and co-operation. A special
thanks to CBSE for the scheme of project introduction to make
students discover their inbuilt abilities. Last but not the least I would
like to thank my parents for their love and support.
 Bonafide Certificate

This is to certify that the project titled “To study variations of current
flowing in a circuit containing a LDR” submitted by Subarno
Bhowmik of Class XII(C) is considered as a part of the physics
practical exam of AISSCE conducted by CBSE.
This is a bonafide record of project work carried out under guidance
and supervision at Sri Krishna Mission School.

Signature of Internal Examiner:

Signature of External Examiner:

Aim:
To study the variations in current flowing in a circuit containing an
LDR because of a variation in (a) the power of the incandescent
lamp, used to 'illuminate' the LDR (keeping all the lamps at a fixed
distance). (b) the distance of an incandescent lamp (of fixed power)
used to 'illuminate' the LDR.

Materials Required:
● Light Dependent Resistor (LDR)
● Multimeter
● 9V battery
● Diode
● Resistor
● Connecting wires
● LED stripe or Lamp
● A switch
● Piece of cardboard
● Soldering iron
● Soldering wire

Theory:
1.LDR and its characteristics: The general purpose
photoconductive cell is also known as LDR (Light Dependent
Resistor). It is a type of semiconductor and its conductivity
changes with proportional change in the intensity of light.
There are two common types of materials used to
manufacture the photoconductive cells.They are Cadmium
Sulphide (CdS) and Cadmium Selenide (CdSe). Extrinsic
devices have impurities added, which have a ground state
 energy closer to the conduction band - since the electrons
don't have as far to jump, lower energy photons (i.e. longer
wavelengths and lower frequencies) are sufficient to trigger
the device. Two of its earliest applications were as part of
smoke and fire detection systems and camera light meters.
The structure is covered with a glass sheet to protect it from
moisture and dust and allows only light to fall on it.

When light is incident on it, a photon is absorbed and thereby

it excites an electron from the valence band into conduction
band. Due to such new electrons coming up in the conduction
band area, the electrical resistance of the device decreases.
Thus the LDR or photo-conductive transducer has the
resistance which is the inverse function of radiation intensity.
λο = ( ℎ. 𝑐) /(𝑒. 𝐸ω)
Where, λο = Threshold wavelength in meters
𝑒 = Charge in one electron, in Coulombs
𝐸ω = Work function of the metal used, in Ev
Here we must note that any radiation with wavelength greater
than the value obtained in the above equation can't produce
any change in the resistance of this device. The band gap
energy of Cadmium Sulphide is 2.42eV and for Cadmium
Selenide it is 1.74eV. Due to such large energy gaps, both the
materials have extremely high resistivity at room temperature.

2.Characteristics of photoconductive cells:

Now when the device is kept in darkness, its resistance is
called dark resistance. This Resistance is typically of the order
 of 1013 ohms. When light falls on it, its resistance decreases
up to several kilo ohms or even hundreds of ohms, depending
on the intensity of light falling on it. The spectral response
characteristics of two commercial cells were compared and we
found that there is almost no response to the radiation of a
wavelength which is shorter than 300 nm. It was very
interesting to note that the Cadmium Sulphide cell has a peak
response nearer or within the green color of the spectrum
within a range of 520 nm. Thus it can be used nearer to the
infra-red region up to 750 nm. It was found that the maximum
response of Cadmium Sulfoselenide is in the yellow-orange
range at 615 nm and also it can be used in the infra-red region
up to about 970 nm.

3.Sensation: The sensitivity of a photodetector is the

relationship between the light falling on the device and the
resulting output signal. In the case of a photocell, one is
dealing with the relationship between the incident light and the
corresponding resistance of the cell.

4.Spectral response: Like the human eye, the relative

sensitivity of a photoconductive cell is dependent on the
wavelength (color) of the incident light. Each photoconductor
material type has its own unique spectral response curve or
plot of the relative response of the photocell versus
wavelength of light.

Procedure:
1. Connected the LDR to the wires, one directly connected to the
multimeter red wire while the other end of LDR connected in
the switch while further connected to the negative terminal of
the battery.
 2. Connected the black wire to the diode which is further
connected to the positive terminal of the battery.
3. Now taken a LED stripe or lamp and placed vertically on the
cardboard.
4. Connected one end with the switch and the other one with
resistor and further connected to battery terminals.
5. Set the multimeter to measure DC current. Connected the
battery and turned on the power supply using the switch.
6. The LED glows up. Measured the current flowing through the
LDR using the multimeter when the LDR is in front of the LED.
Recorded the current reading.
7. Now moved the LDR further away from the LED, the current
reading in the multimeter changes. Recorded the reading
again.
8. Repeated these steps with different power sources at different
distances and noted the observations.

Circuit Diagram:
Observations:
1) 15 Watts (Yellow) (Wavelength = 570 nm)
S Distance From Source Resistance Current
No. (cm) (Kilo ohm) (Micro ampere)
1 50 142.5 40
2 40 60 80
3 30 41 150
4 20 21 300
2) 15 Watts (Incandescent) (Wavelength = 610 nm)
S Distance From Source Resistance Current
No. (cm) (Kilo ohm) (Micro ampere)
1 50 51 120
2 40 35 170
3 30 22 270
4 20 11 540
3) 40 Watts (Incandescent) (Wavelength = 610 nm)
S Distance From Source Resistance Current
No. (cm) (Kilo ohm) (Micro ampere)
1 50 20 300
2 40 13 460
3 30 8.5 700
4 20 4.5 1330
 4) 20 Watts (CFL) (Wavelength = 610 nm)
S Distance From Source Resistance Current
No. (cm) (Kilo ohm) (Micro ampere)
1 50 15.5 380
2 40 10 600
3 30 6 1000
4 20 3 2000

Conclusion and Result:

The LDR resistance decreases with increase in intensity of light and
hence there is an increase in the flow of current.There is an
increase in the current as the distance from the source decreases.
The intensity decreases as the distance from the source increases.
The error lies within the experimental limit.

Precautions:
1. The LDR should be placed steady in a perpendicular manner
to the source.
2. Connections should be neat, clean and tight.
3. The LDR should be connected with a resistor in series to
prevent it from getting damaged.
4. The experiment should be conducted in a dark room.

Sources of Error:
1. The LDR may not be perpendicular to the source.
2. Connections may be faulty or loose.
3. Measurements should be taken carefully.
Bibliography:
1. NCERT Physics Class XII
2. Practical Physics by S.L. Arora
3. www.wikipidea.com
4. www.ecelab.com/
5. YouTube Videos about LDR and multimeter