ELECTRICAL RESISTANCE

FACTORS AFFECTING RESISTANCE

Electric Circuits 1
RESISTANCE
-The physical property of an element or device that impedes the flow of current.
-It may be defined as the property of a substance/element due to which it opposes (or restricts) the
flow of electricity through it
-Measured in ohm’s (Ω)
Law of Resistance
RESISTANCE
Law of Resistance
The resistance R offered by a conductor depends on the following factors:
- It varies directly as its length L when cross section A is constant
- It varies inversely as the cross-section A of the conductor when length is constant
- Resistance of a conductor depends on the nature of material
𝐿
𝑅= 𝜌𝐴 𝑖𝑛 𝑜ℎ𝑚𝑠 (Ω)
where: 𝑳 is the length in meters, A is the cross sectional area of a conductor in square meters, and 𝝆 is
the resistivity of a material in ohm-meter (Ω-m)
Note: If a given conductor has undergone processing(drawing/die casting), its volume will remain the
same however, its diameter and length will change.
Cross-sectional area (A) in
Circular Mil (CM)
Cross-sectional area (A) in Circular Mil (CM)
Circular Mil (CM) – The area contained within a circle having a diameter (d) of 1 mil.
(1 mil = 0.001 inch)
𝝅𝒅𝟐
Acircle=
𝟒
Conversion
𝝅 𝟒
1 CM = square mil; 1 square mil = 𝐂𝐌
𝟒 𝝅
ACM=𝒅𝟐 ; 𝒅 is in mils
1 MCM = 1000 CM 1 inch= 1000 mils
AMERICAN WIRE GAUGE
(AWG)
AMERICAN WIRE GAUGE (AWG)
AWG is an index which shows the cross-sectional area of a round wire. AWG
assigns numbers only to aluminium, copper, and other non-iron or non-steel
wires. Most frequently applied to copper
Equivalent Equivalent
AWG AWG
Sizes (mm²) Sizes (mm²)
14 AWG 2.0 mm² 4 AWG 22 mm²
12 AWG 3.5 mm² 2 AWG 30 mm²
10 AWG 5.5 mm² 1 AWG 38 mm²
8 AWG 8.0 mm² 1/0 AWG 50 mm²
6 AWG 14 mm² 2/0 AWG 60 mm²
source:https://phelpsdodge.com.ph/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/COPPER-BUILDING-WIRE-TYPE-THHNTHWN
Resistivity of Materials at 20ºC
Resistivity of Materials at 20ºC
Resistivity (Specific resistance) is a resistive property depending on the type
of conductor. Measured in ohm-m (Ω-m).
Material Ohm-m (Ω-m) Ohm-CM/ft
Aluminum 𝟐. 𝟖𝟑𝒙𝟏𝟎−𝟖 17
Annealed
𝟏. 𝟗𝒙𝟏𝟎−𝟖 10.37
Copper
Hard-Drawn
𝟏. 𝟕𝟕𝒙𝟏𝟎−𝟖 10.66
Copper
Silver 𝟏. 𝟔𝟓𝒙𝟏𝟎−𝟖 9.8
Gold 𝟐. 𝟒𝟒𝒙𝟏𝟎−𝟖 14.7
Tungsten 𝟓. 𝟒𝟗𝒙𝟏𝟎−𝟖 33.2
Example
1) Determine the resistance of an AWG 16 copper wire at 20ºC if the wire has a
diameter of 0.0508 inch and a length of 400 feet..
2) Determine the resistance of 1 mile of AWG 19 copper wire at 20ºC, if the cross-
sectional area is 1290 CM.
3) An aluminium conductor having a cross sectional area of 1843 MCM is used to
transmit power from a high voltage dc generating station to a large urban center. If
the city is 900 km from the generating station, determine the resistance of the
conductor at a temperature of 20ºC.
Example
4) A copper wire of unknown length has a resistance of 0.8 Ω. By successful
passes through drawing dies, the length of the wire is increased to 2.5 time its
original value. Determine the new value of the resistance.
5) A piece of silver wire has a resistance of 1Ω. What will be the resistance of
manganin wire of one third the length and one third the diameter, if the specific
resistance of manganin is 30 time that of silver.
6) A piece of wire of cross-sectional area 2mm2 has a resistance of 300 Ω.
Find the resistance of a wire of the same length and material if the cross-
sectional area is 5mm2 .
Resistance due to temperature
Resistance due to temperature
-The resistance of all wires generally used in electrical systems increases as
the temperature is raised.
Inferred Absolute Temperature
Inferred Absolute Temperature (T)

where 𝑹𝟏 − 𝐈𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐭 𝒕𝟏 , 𝑹𝟐 − 𝑭𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝟐

𝑻 − 𝑰𝒏𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝑨𝒃𝒔𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒕𝒆 𝑻𝒆𝒎𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆
Inferred Absolute
Material
Temperature (T)
Aluminum -236ºC
Annealed Copper -234.5ºC
Silver -243ºC
Tungsten -202ºC
Temperature Coefficient
Temperature Coefficient is defined as the change in resistance per ohm per change in
temperature.
𝑹𝟐 = 𝑹𝟏 𝟏 + 𝜶𝟏 𝒕𝟐 − 𝒕𝟏 in ohms (Ω)
𝟏 −𝟏
𝜶𝟏 = in ºC
𝑻 +𝒕𝟏
Example
1) An aluminium conductor, 1km long has a diameter of 0.5 cm. Determine the
resistance at 35ºC.
2) A 1.5 mile long conductor is made up of annealed copper whose diameter is
0.1 inch. Determine the resistance at 30ºC.
3) A 7 strand annealed copper conductor, 1.5 km long has a strand diameter of
0.15 cm. At what temperature will the resistance become 3Ω.
4) A coil of copper wire has a resistance of 100Ω when its temperature is 0ºC.
Determine its resistance at 70ºC if the temperature at 0ºC is 0.0043/ºC.
5) Some copper wire has a resistance of 200Ω at 20ºC. A current is passed
through the wire and the temperature rises to 90ºC. Determine the
resistance of the wire at 90ºC. Assuming that the temperature coefficient of
resistance is 0.004/ ºC at 0ºC.
Example
6) A platinum coil has a resistance of 3.146Ω at 40ºC and 3.767Ω at 100ºC.
Find the resistance at 0ºC and the temperature coefficient of resistance at 40ºC.
7) A certain winding made up of copper has a resistance of 100Ω at room
temperature. If resistance temperature coefficient of copper at 0ºC is
0.00428/ºC, calculate the winding resistance if temperature is increased to
50ºC. Assume room temperature as 25ºC.
8) A coil has a resistance of 18Ω at 20ºC and 22Ω at 50ºC. Find the rise in the
temperature when resistance becomes 24Ω.