Can Voltage, Current, Resistance, and Length Determine a Wire's Fusing Factor?

[Ga San Wu]

hi all,

ive been doing an experiment to do with fusing factors and unfortunately i didnt read
my experiment coursework sheet properly and have only recorded the current going
through a wire at a certain voltage. the results have then been used to work out the resistance,
i was wondering whether there was an equation to work out the fusing
factor with only the voltage, current, resistance and length

for example,
3cm length constantan wire
0.2v across the wire
reads an average of 3.01Amps
the resistance is therefore 0.07

i have read an old question that is exactly what i am doing but i am still rather confused.
anyone know anything about this?

Julien

 

[Ga San Wu]

i have had time to try and answer my question.
so far i have come up with one equation that seems
to answer most of my problems.

the equation is as follows (lets hope i can use this symbol thing properly!)

$$\\I_f = \\C \\d^\frac{3}{2}$$(Hurrah the symbols worked!)
$$\\I_f$$ is the fusing current

$$\\C$$ is Preece's Constant ( it depends on which material you use)

$$\\d$$ is the diameter but be careful it has to be in inches

 

[nlightner]

,

Thank you for sharing your experiment and question with us. Fusing factors can be a complex concept to understand, but I will try my best to explain it to you. A fusing factor is a measure of how much current a wire can safely carry before it fuses or melts. It is typically expressed as a multiple of the wire's rated current-carrying capacity.

To calculate the fusing factor, you will need to know the wire's resistance and the maximum current that it can safely carry. In your experiment, you have the resistance and the current, but you will also need to know the wire's maximum current-carrying capacity. This information can usually be found in the wire's specifications or datasheet.

Once you have all of this information, you can use the following equation to calculate the fusing factor:

Fusing factor = Maximum current / Measured current

In your example, if the wire's maximum current-carrying capacity is 5A, then the fusing factor would be 5/3.01 = 1.66. This means that the wire can safely carry 1.66 times its rated current before it fuses or melts.

I hope this helps to clarify the concept of fusing factors for you. If you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to ask. Keep up the good work with your experiments!