I'm currently messing around with "capacitive sensors" by trying to light an LED using an Arduino.(Project #13 of Arduino Starter Kit). My capacitive sensor that i am using is just made up of an Arduino,3 wires and a resistor.My set-up is simply 2 wires hooked to an Arduino and both ends of a resistor, with the 3rd wire connected to the resistor on one side, and nothing on the other.
When i am using a 1m ohm resistor,i am getting values in the range of 2700 ~ 2800 when i grasp the exposed end of the wire with my fingers.However, when i try switching the resistor to one with lower resistance ( 10,000 ohm), i am only getting values of 60 when i grasp the exposed wire, and i get values of 0 when i use a 220 ohm wire.
Should i not be getting a greater value by using a resistor with less resistance as that would allow more current to flow through? Yet, the inverse is happening where the values outputted from my Arduino decrease as i lower the resistance and increase as i increase the resistance.
Why is this so?