Thickness of a wire preliminary investigation

Authors Avatar

Preliminary Investigation

Thickness of a wire

Aim:

To find out how the thickness of a wire affects the resistance of a wire.

Prediction

I predict that as the thickness of the wire increases, the resistance of the wire will decrease because the electrons will have more space to move, so there is less chance of the electrons colliding with the ions because there are gaps between the ions, which therefore results in the resistance to decrease.  

                             

     22 S.W.G                                                 30 S.W.G

The diagram above shows how ionic arrangement in a wire varies with thickness.  In the thinner wire (22 s.w.g) the ions are packed together, so when they vibrate there are more collisions with the electrons, because there are less gaps between ions so therefore the resistance in higher.  Whereas in the thicker wire (30 s.w.g) the ions have gaps between them, so therefore when the ions vibrate there are less chances of collisions with the electrons so the resistance decreases.

Join now!

Apparatus

Power Pack

Ceramic Resistor

Voltmeter

Crocodile Clips

Ammeter

Wires, on a ruler of different thicknesses

Variable Resistor

Circuit Diagram

Method

  • Collect all the equipment needed to conduct the experiment
  • Connect the components correctly, as shown in the circuit diagram
  • Test that all the apparatus works, and make sure the voltmeter is connected in parallel and that the ammeter is connected in series anywhere in the circuit.
  • Make sure the ammeter is connected in 1, 0, whereas the voltmeter will be connected in 1, 5.
  • Turn ...

This is a preview of the whole essay