Thicker cables offer less resistance to electric flow.

They offer more electrons to carry a charge

and a greater number of paths through which the electrons can travel. As a result, given the same
voltage, a thicker cable carries more current. Choose a cable's exact thickness to meet a target
level of resistance. The other relevant factors are the length of the cable, which external needs
usually dictate and the resistivity of the cable's material.

Divide the voltage running through the cable by your target current. If, for instance, 120 volts will
act on the cable, and you want 30 amps to run through it: 120 / 30 = 4. This is your target
resistance, measured in ohms.

Multiply the cable's length by its material's resistivity. Copper, for instance, has a resistivity of
1.724 x 10^-8 ohm meters at room temperature. If your cable must measure 30,000 meters in
length:

30,000 x 1.724 x 10^-8 = 0.0005172 ohm sq. m.

Divide the answer by your target resistance:

0.0005172 / 4 = 0.0001293.

This is the cable's necessary cross-sectional area.

Divide the cable's area by pi: (0.0001293) / 3.142 = 4.1152 x 10^-5.

Find the square root of this answer: (4.1152 x 10^-5) ^ 0.5 = 0.006415. This is the cable's radius,
measured in meters.

Multiply your answer by 39.37 to convert it to inches: 0.006415 x 39.37 = 0.2526.

Multiply the answer by 2: 0.2526 x 2 = 0.5052 inches. This is the cable's necessary thickness. It
approximately corresponds with the standard 16-gauge cable.

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How to Test Electrical Conductivity

By Allan Robinson
Electrical conductivity is a physical property that indicates how well a given material conducts
electricity. A current originates when electrical charges flow in response to a difference in
electrical potential. The conductivity is defined as the ratio of the density of this current to the
strength of the electric field. The electrical conductivity can be calculated measuring the
resistance, area and length of the test material. The test material typically has a box-like shape for
ease of measuring.

Use a four-terminal ohmmeter for greater accuracy. This type of ohmmeter is more accurate
because one pair of terminals measures current, while the other pair measures voltage. This allows
the ohmmeter to ignore the resistance of the first pair of terminals.

Measure the resistance of the test material with a four-terminal ohmmeter by placing each pair of
terminals on opposite ends of the test material.

Record the resistance of the test material. The ohmmeter automatically performs the calculation R
= V/I where R is the resistance in ohms, V is the voltage in volts and I is the current in amperes.

Measure the dimensions of the test material in meters. The length is the distance between the
ohmmeter terminals. The area is the area of the surface that the ohmmeter is measuring current
across.

Calculate the electrical conductivity from the resistance, length and area of the current. The
resistivity is given as p = RA/l where p is the resistivity, R is the resistance, A is the area and l is
the length. The conductivity is s = 1/p where s is the conductivity. The conductivity is therefore s
= l/AR and will be measured in ohm^-1 meters^-1, also known as siemens.

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How to Stop an Electromagnet From Heating Up

Electromagnet
Updated April 24, 2017
By Jason Thompson
An electromagnet is an artificial device that does everything a magnet can do and more. They are
particularly useful because they can be made to have any field strength desired and to grow
stronger or weaker or even turn off. They are essentially just coils of wire wrapped around a metal
core and hooked up to a battery. Although they are easy to make at home, they can have a problem
with overheating if they are given more voltage than their wires can handle. Fortunately, with
careful design, this problem can be avoided.

Multiply the diameter of your electromagnet (the distance from one side of the coil to the other)
by 3.14. Multiply this figure by the number of turns in the coil you are using. This will give you
the length of wire your electromagnet will use. If you measured the diameter in inches, this will be
the length in inches. If you measured the diameter in centimeters, this will be the length in
centimeters.

Look at the wire gauge resistance table and select a wire gauge at random. Look at the number of
ohms of resistance that gauge of wire has per foot, meter or your chosen measurement unit.
Multiply this by the length of wire your electromagnet will require. The resulting figure will be
the number of ohms of resistance your wire will have at that gauge.

Divide the voltage of the battery you intend to use by the resistance of the wire you are
considering. The result will be the current that will flow in that wire when it is hooked up.

Compare this figure to the maximum current rating for that gauge wire on your current rating wire
gauge table. If the current your electromagnet will draw is greater than the maximum that gauge is
rated for, start the calculations again but with a lower gauge wire. The lower the gauge, the wider
the wire and the greater the current it can carry. Repeat this process until you find a gauge that will
safely carry the current your device will produce without overheating.

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How to Calculate Conductance

Updated November 06, 2020

By Ariel Balter, Ph.D.
In electronics, conductance is a measure of the current produced through a circuit element for a
given applied voltage. Usually denoted by the letter G, conductance is the reciprocal of resistance,
R. The unit of conductance is the siemens (S). The conductance of a conductor depends on many
factors, including its shape, dimensions, and the material's conductivity—usually denoted by the
Greek letter σ.

Conductance from Resistance

Suppose a particular circuit element has a resistance of 1.25 × 103 ohms. Because conductance is
the reciprocal of resistance, we can write:

G=\frac{1}{R}
Therefore:

G=\frac{1}{1.25\times 10^3\text{ ohms}}=8\times10^2\text{ siemens}

Conductance when Current and Voltage Are Known
Consider this example: A voltage (V) of 5 volts generates a current (I) of 0.30 amps in a particular
length of wire. Ohm's law tells us that resistance (R) can be easily determined. According to the
law:

V=IR
So:

\frac{1}{R}=\frac{I}{V}
In this case, it's 0.30 amps ÷ 5 volts = 0.06 Siemens.

Conductance from Conductivity

Suppose you have a wire with a round cross-section that has a radius r and length L. If you know
the conductivity (σ) of the wire material, you can find the conductance (G) of the wire. The
relationship between them is:

G=\frac{A\sigma}{L}
and since cross-sectional area is πr2, this becomes:
G=\frac{\pi r^2\sigma}{L}
Example:
Find the conductance of a round piece of iron with a cross-sectional radius of 0.001 meters and
length of 0.1 meters.

Iron has a conductivity of 1.03 × 107 siemens/m, and the cross-sectional area of the wire is 3.14 X
10-6 m. The conductance of the wire is then 324 siemens.

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