Calculating Voltage Drop in a 6V Circuit with 18 Gauge Copper Wire

[Infamous_01]

Im going to college first year in sept for Mechtronics and I am reading in advance for electricity which i know is guna give me problems.

Right now I am stuck on this question. Dont tell me the answer but rather how if find it.

27) A 6V source is connected to a 100 ohm resistor by two 12 ft lengths of 18 gauge copper wire. The total resistance is the resistance of both wires added to the 100 ohm resistor. Determine the following:

a) Current
b) Resistor Voltage Drop
c) Voltage drop across each length of wire

For reference, resistance (ohm/1000ft at 20 degrees) for 18 AWG copper wire is 6.385 and area is 1624.3cm

I figured out a. by dividing Voltage (6v) by Total resistance including the wires (100.094 ohms) and got the answer 60 mA.

Any help with b and c is appreciated

 

[dlgoff]

For b and c you need to look into voltage dividers. What you have is three resistors in series. The voltage drop across all of them is 6V. Now you need to find the drops across each. Your total should be 6V. Here's a good reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voltage_divider"

 

[piercas]

.

I can provide some guidance on how to approach this problem. First, it is important to understand the concept of voltage drop. Voltage drop is the decrease in voltage that occurs as electricity flows through a circuit due to the resistance in the wires and components. In this case, the 18 gauge copper wire will have a certain resistance, which will cause a voltage drop as the current flows through it.

To calculate the voltage drop in the wire, you will need to use Ohm's law, which states that V=IR, where V is voltage, I is current, and R is resistance. In this case, you already know the voltage (6V) and the current (60mA), so you can rearrange the equation to solve for resistance. This will give you the resistance of the wire.

Once you have the resistance of the wire, you can use Ohm's law again to calculate the voltage drop across each length of wire. Remember that the total resistance is the sum of the resistance of both wires and the 100 ohm resistor. So, you will need to divide the total resistance by 2 to get the resistance of each wire. Then, use Ohm's law to calculate the voltage drop across each wire.

For part b, you will need to calculate the voltage drop across the 100 ohm resistor. This can be done using Ohm's law as well.

I hope this helps guide you in solving this problem. Remember to always use the appropriate units (ohms, volts, amps) and to double check your calculations. Practice makes perfect, so keep working on problems like this to improve your understanding of electricity. Good luck in your studies!