Resistance Ranking Tasks - Questions

The Resistance Ranking Tasks Concept Builder is comprised of 36 questions. The questions are divided into 12 different Question Groups. Questions in the same group are rather similar to one another. The Concept Builder is coded to select at random a question from each group until a student is successful with that group of questions.

There are three different activities in the Concept Builder. Those three activities are differentiated as follows:
 
  • Resistance and Length: Question Groups 1-3 Three Question Groups, with each question requiring the learner to rank the relative resistance of three wires of varying length.
  • Resistance and Area: Question Groups 4-6 Three Question Groups, with each question requiring the learner to rank the relative resistance of three wires of varying cross-sectional area.
  • Putting It All Together: Question Groups7-12 Six Question Groups, with four Question Groups requiring the learner to rank the relative resistance of three wires with different length and different cross-sectional area.

The questions from each group are shown below. Teachers are encouraged to view the questions in order to judge which activities are most appropriate for their classes. We recommend all three activities. The first two activities are short and can be done quite quickly. They provide excellent preparation for the more challenging third activity. 

The Physics Classroom grants teachers and other users the right to print these questions for private use. Users are also granted the right to copy the text and modify it for their own use. However, this document should not be uploaded to other servers for distribution to and/or display by others. The Physics Classroom website should remain the only website or server from which the document is distributed or displayed. We also provide a PDF that teachers can use under the same conditions. We have included a link to the PDF near the bottom of this page.

 

 
 

Resistance Rankings

 
Activity 1: Resistance and Length
Question Group 1
Question 1
The three copper wires shown below each have the same cross-sectional area but a different length. Rank the resistance values of the wires in order, from the smallest resistance to the largest resistance.
 
 
 
Question 2
The three copper wires shown below each have the same cross-sectional area but a different length. Rank the resistance values of the wires in order, from the smallest resistance to the largest resistance.
 

 

Question 3
The three copper wires shown below each have the same cross-sectional area but a different length. Rank the resistance values of the wires in order, from the smallest resistance to the largest resistance.
 


 
Question Group 2
Question 4
The three nichrome wires shown below each have the same cross-sectional area but a different length. Rank the resistance values of the wires in order, from the smallest resistance to the largest resistance.



 
Question 5
The three nichrome wires shown below each have the same cross-sectional area but a different length. Rank the resistance values of the wires in order, from the smallest resistance to the largest resistance.
 


Question 6
The three nichrome wires shown below each have the same cross-sectional area but a different length. Rank the resistance values of the wires in order, from the smallest resistance to the largest resistance.
 


 

Question Group 3
Question 7
The three gold wires shown below each have the same cross-sectional area but a different length. Rank the resistance values of the wires in order, from the smallest resistance to the largest resistance.

 


Question 8
The three gold wires shown below each have the same cross-sectional area but a different length. Rank the resistance values of the wires in order, from the smallest resistance to the largest resistance.
 


 
Question 9
The three gold wires shown below each have the same cross-sectional area but a different length. Rank the resistance values of the wires in order, from the smallest resistance to the largest resistance.


 
 
Activity 2: Resistance and Area
Question Group 4
Question 10
The three copper wires shown below each have the same length but a different cross-sectional area. Rank the resistance values of the wires in order, from the smallest resistance to the largest resistance.
 

 
Question 11
The three copper wires shown below each have the same length but a different cross-sectional area. Rank the resistance values of the wires in order, from the smallest resistance to the largest resistance.


 
Question 12
The three copper wires shown below each have the same length but a different cross-sectional area. Rank the resistance values of the wires in order, from the smallest resistance to the largest resistance.
 




 
Question Group 5
Question 13
The three nichrome wires wires shown below each have the same length but a different cross-sectional area. Rank the resistance values of the wires in order, from the smallest resistance to the largest resistance.

 


Question 14
The three nichrome wires wires shown below each have the same length but a different cross-sectional area. Rank the resistance values of the wires in order, from the smallest resistance to the largest resistance.
 



 
Question 15
The three nichrome wires wires shown below each have the same length but a different cross-sectional area. Rank the resistance values of the wires in order, from the smallest resistance to the largest resistance.
 


 
Question Group 6
Question 16
The three gold wires shown below each have the same length but a different cross-sectional area. Rank the resistance values of the wires in order, from the smallest resistance to the largest resistance.
 




 
Question 17
The three gold wires shown below each have the same length but a different cross-sectional area. Rank the resistance values of the wires in order, from the smallest resistance to the largest resistance.
 



 
Question 18
The three gold wires shown below each have the same length but a different cross-sectional area. Rank the resistance values of the wires in order, from the smallest resistance to the largest resistance.
 

 
 
 

 
Activity 3: Putting It All Together
Question Group 7
Question 19
The three copper wires shown below each have the same cross-sectional area but a different length. Rank the resistance values of the wires in order, from the smallest resistance to the largest resistance.
 


 
 
Question 20
The three nichrome wires shown below each have the same cross-sectional area but a different length. Rank the resistance values of the wires in order, from the smallest resistance to the largest resistance.
 

 

 
Question 21
The three gold wires shown below each have the same cross-sectional area but a different length. Rank the resistance values of the wires in order, from the smallest resistance to the largest resistance.
 


 
Question Group 8
Question 22
The three copper wires shown below each have the same length but a different cross-sectional area. Rank the resistance values of the wires in order, from the smallest resistance to the largest resistance.
 

 
 
Question 23
The three nichrome wires shown below each have the same length but a different cross-sectional area. Rank the resistance values of the wires in order, from the smallest resistance to the largest resistance.
 



 

Question 24
The three gold wires shown below each have the same length but a different cross-sectional area. Rank the resistance values of the wires in order, from the smallest resistance to the largest resistance.
 


 
Question Group 9
Question 25
The three copper wires shown below each have a different length and a different cross-sectional area. Rank the resistance values of the wires in order, from the smallest resistance to the largest resistance.
 


 
 
Question 26
The three copper wires shown below each have a different length and a different cross-sectional area. Rank the resistance values of the wires in order, from the smallest resistance to the largest resistance.
 

 

Question 27
The three copper wires shown below each have a different length and a different cross-sectional area. Rank the resistance values of the wires in order, from the smallest resistance to the largest resistance.
 

 

Question Group 10
Question 28
The three nichrome wires shown below each have a different length and a different cross-sectional area. Rank the resistance values of the wires in order, from the smallest resistance to the largest resistance.

 

 

Question 29
The three nichrome wires shown below each have a different length and a different cross-sectional area. Rank the resistance values of the wires in order, from the smallest resistance to the largest resistance.
 

 

Question 30
The three nichrome wires shown below each have a different length and a different cross-sectional area. Rank the resistance values of the wires in order, from the smallest resistance to the largest resistance.

 


 

Question Group 11
Question 31
The three gold wires shown below each have a different length and a different cross-sectional area. Rank the resistance values of the wires in order, from the smallest resistance to the largest resistance.
 


 

Question 32
The three gold wires shown below each have a different length and a different cross-sectional area. Rank the resistance values of the wires in order, from the smallest resistance to the largest resistance.

 


 

Question 33
The three gold wires shown below each have a different length and a different cross-sectional area. Rank the resistance values of the wires in order, from the smallest resistance to the largest resistance.



 


Question Group 12
Question 34
The three aluminum wires shown below each have a different length and a different cross-sectional area. Rank the resistance values of the wires in order, from the smallest resistance to the largest resistance.
 

 

Question 35
The three aluminum wires shown below each have a different length and a different cross-sectional area. Rank the resistance values of the wires in order, from the smallest resistance to the largest resistance.
 

 

Question 36
The three aluminum wires shown below each have a different length and a different cross-sectional area. Rank the resistance values of the wires in order, from the smallest resistance to the largest resistance.