# Width of wire

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

Thanks
Neil

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

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

ranger
Gold Member
Does it decrease because there are more electrons to move freely?
You pretty much got it. Just think of a pipe where you can vary the diameter to affect the water flow.

ok thanks for the help

berkeman
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):

$$R = \frac{\rho L}{A}$$

So an increase in the "width" of a conductor increases the area of the conductor, which does what?

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):

$$R = \frac{\rho L}{A}$$

So an increase in the "width" of a conductor increases the area of the conductor, which does what?
Sorry, but what does pL represent?

ranger
Gold Member
p = static resistivity of material and L = length of specimen.