Voltage Divider problems

tyler wrote 02/21/2022 at 20:29 0 points

Hello! Today I started work on (basically) my first ever analog circuit. It will probably be familiar to most of you: a LDR in a voltage divider to light up an incandescent Christmas light.



I set it up, plugged my multimeter into Vout, and the logic worked as expected. I put a flashlight up to the LDR, and the voltage approached the input. (I used a potentiometer for the other resistor.)



Here's the problem: when I substituted the multimeter with the light, nothing happens. When I put the multimeter in parallel (not series) with the light, it shows no voltage. The circuit can work fine, but as soon as I add in the light, it quits. Does anyone know what could cause this?



Thanks, Tyler

EDIT: I wrote that I put the multimeter in series with the bulb - I have no idea why I said this, for in actuality I put the probes in parallel with the bulb. Sorry for any confusion this probably caused, and thanks for pointing it out.

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