What is Wire: Definition and 1000 Discussions

A wire is a single usually cylindrical, flexible strand or rod of metal. Wires are used to bear mechanical loads or electricity and telecommunications signals. Wire is commonly formed by drawing the metal through a hole in a die or draw plate. Wire gauges come in various standard sizes, as expressed in terms of a gauge number. The term 'wire' is also used more loosely to refer to a bundle of such strands, as in "multistranded wire", which is more correctly termed a wire rope in mechanics, or a cable in electricity.
Wire comes in solid core, stranded, or braided forms. Although usually circular in cross-section, wire can be made in square, hexagonal, flattened rectangular, or other cross-sections, either for decorative purposes, or for technical purposes such as high-efficiency voice coils in loudspeakers. Edge-wound coil springs, such as the Slinky toy, are made of special flattened wire.

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  1. G

    Finding the magnetic field of an infinite cylindrical wire.

    Homework Statement An infinite cylindrical wire of radius ##R## carries a current per unit area ##\vec{J}## which varies with the distance from the axis as ##J(s)=ks^2\hat{z}## for ##0<s<R## and zero otherwise where k is a constant. Find the magnetic field ##\vec{B(s)}## in all space. Homework...
  2. K

    How to calculate thickness of the wall in a wire chamber

    Homework Statement This is a question on multiple coulomb scattering in a wire chamber momentum p = 500MeV/c wire resolution = 120 microns distance from wall to wire = 0.01m radiation length of wall material X_0 = 2E-3 m mass of charged particle m_{\pi} = 139.6 MeV/c^2 charge z = 1 How thick...
  3. T

    Magnetic field of bent wire for a point along parallel axis

    Homework Statement Long wire is bent such that it forms two parallel line segments that goes to -∞ along the z-axis and a semicircle of radius (R). Find magnetic field on Z axis. Homework Equations Biot-Savart Law (μ0/4π) I = ∫ dl' x R/ R^2 where dl' is element of length and R is the unit...
  4. davidbenari

    What is the maximum torque on a square shaped wire with given parameters?

    Homework Statement Find the maximum torque on a square shaped wire provided N=120; l=4cm;R=10##\Omega##; B=0.2 T ; ##\omega=200 revs/sec## Homework Equations ##\tau=IaBsin(\theta)## ##\epsilon=\frac{d}{dt}\Phi## The Attempt at a Solution ##i=\frac{\epsilon}{R}=-\frac{\frac{d}{dt} (BAcos\omega...
  5. M

    Exploring the Neutrality of Wires: Understanding Electron Movement and Charge

    If a wire is neutral, and the electrons in it suddenly start to move, why is the wire still neutral? I would think that the electrons would contract causing the wire to be negatively charged.
  6. W

    Ampere's Law - Showing that B at center is due only to wire

    Homework Statement In Fig. 29-71, a long circular pipe with outside radius R = 2.6 cm carries a (uniformly distributed) current i = 8.00 mA into the page.A wire runs parallel to the pipe at a distance of 3.00R from center to center. Find the (a) magnitude and (b) direction (into or out of the...
  7. U

    MHB Wire Length w/ 0.068 Ohms & 2.8mm Diameter: ~11.56 ft

    The electrical resistance of a wire varies directly with the length of the wire and inversely with the square of the diameter of the wire. If a wire 50 feet long and 2 millimeters in diameter has a resistance of 0.265 ohms, find the length of a wire of the same material whose resistance is 0.068...
  8. Feodalherren

    Magnetic Flux & Current in a Dropped Magnet & Wire Loop

    Homework Statement A bar magnet is held above the center of a wire loop lying in the horizontal plane, as shown in the figure below. The south end of the magnet is toward the loop. After the magnet is dropped, what is true of the current in the resistor as viewed from above? (Select all that...
  9. CopyOfA

    Can TDR be Used for Diagnostics on a Single Wire?

    Can someone help explain why reflectometry is unavailable for diagnostics in a single wire? Or is it unavailable? I am a little confused as to why one could not use TDR on a single wire to find faults in the wire, such as nicks or corrosion... Is there a way to construct a model whereby this...
  10. M

    Magnetic Force on Wire 2: Verification Needed

    1. Wire 1 is oriented along the y-axis and carries a current I1. A rectangular loop located to the right of the wire in the xy-plane carries a current I2. Find the magnetic force exerted by wire 1 on the top wire of length b in the loop labeled "Wire 2" in the figure.2. F = IL x B 3. Attached...
  11. P

    Magnetic interaction of wire and rectangular loop

    Hi. In this video: he ignores the magnetic field from current 2(I2). Could anyone give me a good explanation why?
  12. icesalmon

    What Causes a Magnetic Field in a Wire?

    I'm learning about magnetism in my physics course, and we talked about Hans Christian Oersted's experiment where he observed electric current passing through a wire and analyzed the movement of a compass around this wire. He discovered that a magnetic field is generated by this current passing...
  13. T

    Composite wire section as it relates to induction

    Stuff I'm wondering about: * can/does a conductors' cross-section influence inductive efficiency and/or directionality? * consider a 'wire' made from a dielectric material, with a conductive material evaporatively deposited on it's surface. if this wire were asymmetrical in section, e.g. it...
  14. s@Ed-biophysics

    Help with Understanding DNA Nano Wire

    Hi there Is there anyone to help me about a definition of "DNA nano wire"?!
  15. C

    Calculating Symmetric Components in a Three Phase 4 Wire System

    Hello fellow engineers! I am a student doing a simple course in Electrical Engineering. I've got an enquiry regarding this question " 1. In a three phase 4 wire system with phase to neutral voltage of 230V, a balanced set of resistive loads of 8 ohms are connected between each phase and...
  16. K

    Force and acceleration in a vibrating wire

    Homework Statement A wire of length 1[m] vibrates with the base frequency which is 200[Hz]. the specific mass is 8[gr/cm3]. The maximal acceleration at the middle is 80,000[cm/sec2]. what is the amplitude Homework Equations Newton's second law: F=ma The cosine sentence: A^2=B^2+C^2-2BC\cdot...
  17. K

    Waves in opposite directions in a wire

    Homework Statement 2 crosswise cosine waves of amplitude 2.5 cm and wavelength 5 cm are traveling in opposite directions in a wire with velocity 6 mm/s. draw graphs of the wire at times t=0, 2 and 4 sec. Homework Equations Waves propagating to the right: ##y=A\cos 2\pi \left(...
  18. O

    Resistance and the length of the wire

    Hi! The question is simple, seemingly... Doubling the length of a wire, doubles the resistance of the wire... Why? There is one interesting point to it: Doubling the length of the wire also makes the ELECTRIC FIELD weaker TWO times. That automatically makes the current smaller two times...
  19. B

    What is the Correct Method for Calculating Tension in Equilibrium?

    I don't manage to get this task right. See the pictures. First i take point D and draw a free body diagram. Then i use the equation for equilibrium. I can then calculate the tension in the wires that goes from D to B and from D to C. I then take point B and draw a free body diagram, but all the...
  20. W

    Electric Fields: Thin wire in conducting cylinder

    Hello PF, I am having a bit of difficulty understanding this question. Homework Statement "A thin wire with linear charge density λ is surrounded by a conducting cylindrical shell." (There is a hollow cylinder with a wire though it) "If the electric field must be zero inside a conductor, is...
  21. N

    Electric Field Tension In Wire Problem HELP

    Problem Statement: Attached in pic. Find the tension between the wire of two charges. My attempt: So basically idk how to account for tension and thought you can just use the E-Force between the two charges in the direction towards the E-Field. How do i account for the tension? In which...
  22. KL7AJ

    Are Lecher Wires Still Used in Electronics Courses?

    Happy to have any comments on this. Eric
  23. M

    Electric field intensity around a wire

    Homework Statement I am trying to calculate the surface charge density and electric field intensity around a copper wire. This is not a part of my assignment but out of curiosity. First, A current carrying wire of radius 2m, radius 0.5cm is at a height of 5cm above a ground plane, the ground...
  24. G

    Why we cannot see light from a conducting wire?

    When I connect filament(light bulb) in the electric circuit I can see the light. but when I connect only conducting wire(copper line) in the electric circuit I couldn't see the light from the conducting wire even though conducting wire less resistant than filament. How can I explain that...
  25. F

    Magnetic Force on current-carrying wire

    Not necessarily a homework question but this is pretty fundamental. I can't get a decent derivation online. If the length of the wire in the uniform magnetic field is l and it moves a distance \delta s in \delta t: From the Lorentz Force Law: \vec{F} = q\vec{v}\times\vec{B} if flux...
  26. V

    Wire 6 LED's to 110v AC: Step-by-Step Guide for Converting Solar Lights

    Hey guys, I've been researching on the internet for some time, and can't seem to find what I'm looking for. I purchased solar powered single LED garden lights yesterday and am going to convert them to be able to plug into an outlet in the house. I've been reading some forums and everybody seems...
  27. I

    What Wires Connect When Repairing a 3.5mm Headphone Jack?

    So I have earphones with a built in mic and the 3.5mm jack was broken so I cut the cable at the base where it meets the jack. And I have another 3.5mm headphone jack from some old headphones that has the wires for the built in miss as well. I was wondering which wires go together. On the...
  28. O

    Can a straight wire be a self inductor?

    I hope this is posted in the correct thread. When I was still in my physics class, we learned that a loop of wire with current can act as a self inductor. Just to refresh my memory: A loop of wire carrying current has a magnetic field around it due to current, however if the current changes...
  29. amjad-sh

    Two conductors connected by a thin wire

    The problem is :The conducting spheres (s1) of radius R and (s2) of radius 2R of the figure shown are connected by a thin wire. The conducting sphere (s3) of radius R is connected to ground. A charge Q is placed on the sphere (s1). 1- Determine the charges Q1,Q2,and Q3 thus distributed on the...
  30. D

    Identifying Shielded Twisted Wires with Connectors

    I have a harness with closed connectors (about 30 pins in each one of them),with about a dozen of twisted shielded wires. need to mark them to know which one is which. Tried to connect a needed pair to a ac power supply and find a wire with ac sensor, but on the low voltage shield blocks the...
  31. C

    Inducing a signal in a wire over a short distance

    Hello! I want to induce a (weak) signal in a wire across the room from me. I was just wondering, how would I go about doing this if I couldn't touch the wire and couldn't modify the equipment to accept these signals BUT was close and in line of site of the wire?
  32. S

    Application of low resistance wire

    Homework Statement I am currently doing the phy project on length vs resistance of wire. to reduce the power loss in transmission wire, the length of wire must be short, as power loss = (I^2) R... in my experiment , I fixed I (current) , now i am asked to find the application of low...
  33. A

    Electrons acceleration in a wire

    I have some questions about electrons flow. 1)Lets say we have a simple circuit with a metal wire and a battery supplier.Firstly if we can imagine an electrons flow in a conductive material like metal but with zero resistance and no atoms for the electrons to collide , the Fc1 force from the...
  34. D

    MHB What is the required length of wire A?

    two wires A and B made from two different materials have temperature coefficient of resistance equal to 0.0025 and 0.0005 ohm per degree Celsius respectively. It is desired to make a coil of wire having a resistance of 1200 ohms with a temperature coefficient of 0.001, using a suitable length of...
  35. U

    Resistance of wire vs wire with wide middle

    Homework Statement There are two wires: Wire one looks like --=========-- Wire two looks like --------------- Do they have the same resistance? So this isn't actually one of my homework problems, but I'm just debating this with a friend and neither of us can come to an agreement. So...
  36. deep838

    Width of a wire grid polarizer

    Why is it that the width of a wire grid polarizer has to be less than the wavelength of the wave which I want to polarize? What would happen if the width was a little bit more?
  37. Undacuva

    How to wire a STRONG electromagnet

    Hi everyone, I have a 12mm long hard ferrite core that I want to use as an electromagnet. I have wound it with 0.8mm copper as tightly as I can by hand, in a single layer, but the field is not strong enough. I have placed another coil over that first coil, and then a third coil, each in...
  38. M

    Tension at all various of a wire rope subjected to tension

    Will the tension at various points of a wire rope remain same when subjected to tension? for example let us assume that a wire rope is pretensioned and held between to fixed supports .So will the tension remain the same at the center and either of the anchorage points.
  39. CopyOfA

    Characteristic impedance of AWG 33 copper magnet wire

    I am working on impedance measurements of close-wound electromagnetic coils. I am using an Agilent LCR meter to measure the impedance of these coils over a frequency range of 20Hz-2MHz. When I perform the measurements, I get impedance magnitude and phase angle in degrees. I would like to...
  40. D

    Calculating Current Density Distribution in Proximity Wires

    Hello. I'm floundering. What is the right way to formulate a problem of calculating the current density distribution across the wire's cross-setion, taking into account eddy currents? If the Maxwell's equations are not the way to go, what is? What should be the boundary conditions or any...
  41. V

    Resistance & Current in a wire

    Homework Statement The resistivity of gold is 2.44 x 10-8 Ω m at a temperature of 20°C. A gold wire, 0.5 mm in diameter and 44 cm long, carries a current of 380 ma. The number of electrons per second passing a given cross section of the wire, is closest to: A) 2.4 × 10^18 B)...
  42. S

    Electron speed and movement through a copper wire

    I've recently read that the electrons move relatively slowly to what I had previously thought through a metal. That the "drift velocity" is slow, but because the electrons are plentiful, they can pass down the signal very fast. Near light speeds. Could someone explain what I'm missing and this...
  43. K

    Magnetic field due to semi-circular wire

    So, I've got a wire with a semicircle about the origin, my task is to find the magnetic field at M=(0,0,z). I want to use Biot-Savart, so I find dl', r and r-hat. (r being the vector from the source point to field point) \begin{equation} r^{2}=R^{2}+z^{2}\\...
  44. D

    Constant angular speed loop of wire

    Homework Statement You have a loop of wire (dimensions c and d) which is oriented vertically on the y-axis (the y-axis splits the rectangle in two equal pieces), and rotates about the y-axis at constant angular ##\omega##. The magnetic field is in the +i direction. What would be the torqque...
  45. Hardik Batra

    Electric potential and conducting wire

    There are two sphere of radius a and b and they are connected by conducting wire. Then why the electric potential becomes same of both the sphere?
  46. T

    Force on a Magnet - Current Carrying Wire

    Homework Statement A bar magnet, with pole strength 0.1 Wb and magnetic length (i.e. distance between the poles) of 5 cm, is placed so that one pole is 2 cm and the other 6 cm from a long, straight wire carrying a current of 6 Amps. The magnet lies in a plane perpendicular to the wire. Find...
  47. D

    How large is the force that tightens the wire

    Homework Statement How large is the force that tightens the wire A (see picture), when the weight's mass is 670 kg? Guidance: Assume that the wires between the wheels are horizontal. Homework Equations G=mg?The Attempt at a Solution What seems weird to me is that none of the wheels look...
  48. J

    Charged wire inside a linear dielectric

    Homework Statement see attachment 2 Homework Equations a. The Attempt at a Solution see atachment 1 i am stuck at problem a. the question is to write down the boundary conditions for that the E field has to satisfy infinetly far away from the wire and at the boundary of...
  49. M

    External electro-magneteic field acting on a wire

    Hello, I am interested in knowing what happens ta wire trough which current is flowing, when an external magnetic, electrical or both , field is applied? Does the voltage or current change, can it be changed this way? Can you also provide some equations of this phenomenon, and also...
  50. D

    Rectangular loop near wire emf

    Homework Statement http://web.mit.edu/viz/EM/visualizations/coursenotes/modules/guide10.pdf pg: 10-17 Homework Equations The Attempt at a Solution I do not understand conceptually, why we chose the rectangular surface to take the flux over. Can anyone explain this...
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