Basic electricity 4

Resistance

One type of load is a resistor. Resistors restrict, or limit, the flow of current in a circuit.

Resistance is represented by the letter "R" and by the Greek letter omega, as seen in the graphic to
the left.

Resistors have color coded stripes that enable you to determine the ohmic value of each resistor.
In this example, we have an orange (1st digit), orange (2nd digit), red (multiplier), which would be
3300 ohms ± 5%.

These color codes are defined in a printable document available in the Resources section or by
clicking on the following link.

Resistor Color Codes

Characteristics of Resistance
Resistance restricts the flow of current through a material. Resistance of wire is very significant
because wire is usually the conductor in a circuit. If resistance in a wire is high, current flows
through that wire with difficulty, making a bad conductor. If resistance in a material is low, current
flows through that material easily, making a good conductor.

Factors Determining Resistance

The main factors that determine the resistance of wire are length, cross-sectional area,
temperature, material, and the condition of the wire.

Length of Wire

The longer a wire, the more resistance in that wire. For example, wire "A" and wire "B" are identical,
except in length. Wire "B" is double the length of wire "A", so the resistance in wire "B" is double that
of wire "A". The current must travel twice the distance in wire "B". Current, therefore, has twice the
difficulty flowing through wire "B".

Cross-Sectional Area of Wire

The cross-section of a wire is the end surface of a wire. The cross-section of wire is usually
circular, but can be square, triangular, or any other shape.

The larger the cross-sectional area of a wire, the lower the resistance.

Temperature

As the temperature of wire typically used to carry electric current (ie. copper, silver, gold, or
aluminum) increases, so does the resistance. By knowing the resistance of a wire at one
temperature, you can find the resistance of that wire at any other temperature by using a formula.
This formula is shown in the graphic and applies to copper wire.

Calculating Resistance Based on Temperature

Let’s calculate the resistance of a 10-gage wire at 30ºC. Referring to the American Wire Gage table,
we can see that the resistance at 20º Celsius is .9989 Ohms.

Calculating Resistance
Begin by plugging the known values into the resistance-temperature relationship formula for
copper. Follow the equation in the illustration to see how the resistance is found.

Answer: The resistance of the wire at 0 degrees Celsius is 7.805 ohms.

Wire Size

This graphic shows both American Wire Gage (AWG) and the equivalent Metric wire sizes used in
Europe and Japan. The cross-sectional area of American wire is computed in circular mils (CM), or
the square of the diameter in mils. 1 mil = .001” or
 1/1000th of an inch. Metric area is computed in square centimeters.