1. Feb 19, 2007 #1

   scotty0409

   

   What is the effect of increasing the width of a wire on it's resistance, and why?
   
   Thanks
   Neil

    

   scotty0409, Feb 19, 2007
2. 
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3. Feb 19, 2007 #2

   cristo

   

   Staff Emeritus

   Science Advisor

   What do you think? Do you know the structure of a metal/solid?

    

   cristo, Feb 19, 2007
4. Feb 19, 2007 #3

   scotty0409

   

   Does it decrease because there are more electrons to move freely?

    

   scotty0409, Feb 19, 2007
5. Feb 19, 2007 #4

   ranger

   

   Gold Member

   You pretty much got it. Just think of a pipe where you can vary the diameter to affect the water flow.

    

   ranger, Feb 19, 2007
6. Feb 19, 2007 #5

   scotty0409

   

   ok thanks for the help

    

   scotty0409, Feb 19, 2007
7. Feb 19, 2007 #6

   berkeman

   

   Staff: Mentor

   So now that you've figured it out with help from ranger, here is the general equation that you should memorize (yes, there are a handful of equations that you should memorize):
   
   [tex]R = \frac{\rho L}{A}[/tex]
   
   So an increase in the "width" of a conductor increases the area of the conductor, which does what?

    

   berkeman, Feb 19, 2007
8. Mar 4, 2007 #7

   scotty0409

   

   Sorry, but what does pL represent?

    

   scotty0409, Mar 4, 2007
9. Mar 4, 2007 #8

   ranger

   

   Gold Member

   p = static resistivity of material and L = length of specimen.

    

   ranger, Mar 4, 2007

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