18-55mm 3.5-5.6G Nikon lens won't go to 3.5?

In Manual and Aperture Priority mode my 18-55mm 3.5-5.6G nikkor lens will not go down to 3.5 on my nikon d5000. I turn the dial all the way down and it only goes to 5.6.Am I doing something wrong? Is there any way to get it to f stop 3.5?

You'll have to put it at 18mm focal length.

Many zoom lenses have different maximum apertures for the different focal lengths.

You do not understand f/3.5-f/5.6 means

What it means is at 18 mm the lens aperture is f/3.5 and at 55 mm it is f/5.6

It does NOT mean the the smallest aperture is f/5.6. That lenses smallest aperture is f/22

Your lens, like most consumer grade lenses is a variable aperture.

That means that the maximum aperture of the lens depends on it's focal length.

At 18mm, the maximum aperture is f/3.5, but at 55mm, the maximum aperture is f/5.6 Between those two focal lengths, the maximum aperture will gradually change from f/3.5 to f/5.6. This is known as a variable aperture.

Only the professional grade zoom lenses have a constant aperture regardless of the focal length. A constant aperture would be one that maintained the same maximum aperture across the zoom range. This requires more complex construction, which is one reason professional lenses cost more.

I bet you are trying to get f/3.5 at 55mm?

As you zoom in, the lens effectively becomes longer and skinnier. The longer and skinnier a lens is, the smaller the aperture is (larger number.)

If you zoom your lens out to 18mm, you will be able to get f/3.5.

The widest aperture at 55mm is f/5.6.

At 18mm, the maximum aperture is f/3.5. At 55mm it's f/5.6. The aperture of your zoom lens is not constant. There's nothing wrong. It was built that way.