PHYSICS
INVESTIGATORY
PROJECT
NAME:
CLASS:
SECTION:
ROLL NUMBER:
SCHOOL: Rajputana public school
CERTIFICATE
It is hereby to certify that, the original and
genuine investigation work has been carried
out to investigate about the variation of
current using a LD investigation has been
completed solely, sincerely and satisfactorily
by Harsh pal of class XII A, regarding the
project title "STUDY OF VARIATION OF
CURRENT USING A LDR" under the guidance
of Mr. Prakhar mishra during the academic
year 2025-26.
Principal signature Physics teacher
signature
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I wish to express my deep gratitude and
sincere thanks to Mr. Hirdesh kumar singh for
his encouragement and for all the facilities
that he provided for this project work. I
sincerely appreciate this magnanimity by
taking me into his fold for which I shall remain
indebted to him. I extend my hearty thanks to
Mr. Prakhar mishra Physics teacher who
guided me to do this project and successful
completion of this project. I take this
opportunity to express my deep sense of
gratitude for his invaluable guidance, constant
encouragement, constructive comments,
sympathetic attitude and immense motivation
which has sustained my effort at all stages of
this project work.
Abstract
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
photosensitive 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 are
sufficient to trigger the device. Two of its earliest applications
were as part of smoke and
fire detection systems and camera light metres. The structure
is covered with a glass
sheet to protect it from moisture and dust and allows only
light to fall on it.
OBJECTIVE
To study the variations, in current flowing in a circuit
containing a LDR, because of a variation:-
(a) In the power of the incandescent lamp, used to illuminate
the LDR.(Keeping all the lamps at a fixed distance).
(b) In the distance of an incandescent lamp, (of fixed power),
used to illuminate the LDR.
theory
1) LDR and its characteristics:-
When light is incident on it, a photon 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 phot-conductive
transducer has the resistance which is the inverse function of
radiation intensity.
Here we must note that any radiation with wavelength greater than
the value obtained in above equation CANNOT 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=ce 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 in our laboratory. And we found that there is almost
no response to the radiation of a wavelength shorter than 300 nm. It
was very interesting to note that the CdS cell has a peak response
nearer or within the green colour of the spectrum within a range of
520 nm. Thus it can be used nearer to the infrared region up to 750
nm. It was found that the maximum response of Cadmium
Sulphoselenide is in the yellow-orange range at 615 nm and also it
can be used in the infra-red region up to about 90 nm.
3) Sensitivity:-
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 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.
Material required
Light Dependent resistor(LDR)
Connecting Wires
Source of different power rating(bulbs)
Bulb Holder
Metre scale
Multimeter
Battery
CIRCUIT DIAGRAM
Produces
Choose a specific position for the source and mount it using a
holder, make sure it is stable.
Select the bulb with lowest power rating and connect it to the
holder as shown in figure.
Connect the LDR, battery and multimeter in series.
Set the multimeter to the ohm section and select a suitable
range and measure the resistance with a bulb on.
Similarly switch to the current section and move to micro
ampere in the multimeter. This gives the value of the current.
Repeat these steps with different power sources at different
distances and note down observations.
Observation
The experiment has been conducted by using various sources with
different power ratings. Voltage of the battery=6V.
1)15 watts (yellow) (wavelength=570 nm)
[Link] Distance from Resistance (Kilo Current (micro
source (cm) ohm) ampere)
1
2
3
4
2)15 watts (incandescent) (mean wavelength=610 nm)
[Link] Distance from Resistance (Kilo Current (micro
source (cm) ohm) ampere)
1
2
3
4
3)40 watts (incandescent) (mean wavelength=610 nm)
[Link] Distance from Resistance (Kilo Current (micro
source (cm) ohm) ampere)
1
2
3
4
4)20 watt (CFL)(white light)
[Link] Distance from Resistance (Kilo Current (micro
source (cm) ohm) ampere)
1
2
3
4
Conclusion
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.
REFERENCES
NCERT physics class XII
Art of Electronics by paul worowitz
[Link]/
[Link]/links/education-hobby/
➤ [Link]/