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What Effect Does Stretching Have on a Wire's Resistance?

Resistance denotes the degree to which a conducting object opposes the flow of electric current. Resistivity, on the other hand, denotes the degree to which a specific material opposes the flow of electric current. You can determine an object's resistance by multiplying the resistivity of the material by the length of the object and dividing by its cross-sectional area. Therefore, if the cross-sectional area does not increase by a great degree, stretching will increase the resistance of a wire.
  1. Initial Wire

    • Copper has a resistivity of 1.68x10^-8 ohm meters. If the length of a copper wire is 1 m and its cross-sectional area is 1 cm squared, the resistance of the wire is 1.68x10^-4 ohms. To obtain this resistance, first multiply the length by the resistivity -- this results in a quantity of 1.68x10^-8 ohm m squared -- then divide by the cross-sectional area. Since 1 cm is equal to 1x10^-2 m, 1 cm squared is equal to 1x10^-4 m squared. Therefore, dividing 1.68x10^-8 ohm m squared by the cross-sectional area of 1x10^-4 m squared yields a resistance of 1.68x10^-4 ohms.

    Stretching Without Change in Cross-Sectional Area

    • Suppose the wire could be stretched to 2 m without changing the cross-sectional area. This will double the resistance of the wire. First, multiply the new length by the resistivity; this results in the quantity 3.36x10^-8 ohm m squared. Dividing by the same cross-sectional area of 1x10^-4 m squared yields a new resistance of 3.36x10^-4 ohms.

    Current and Cross-Sectional Area

    • When a wire of a given length conducts electric current, the number of electrons that can travel through the wire is limited by the diameter of the wire; a larger-diameter wire permits more electrons to flow. The cross-sectional area of the wire, therefore, is inversely proportional to the resistance -- the greater the cross-sectional area, the lower the resistance of the wire.

    Expected Change in Cross-Sectional Area

    • If you stretch a wire but the volume remains constant, the cross-sectional area will change. As the length increases, the cross-sectional area must decrease in order to keep the volume constant. If you double the length of the wire, the cross-sectional area is reduced by half. This, in turn, increases the resistance even more. The numerator of 3.36x10^-8 ohm m squared that results from the doubling of the wire then must be divided by 0.5x10^-4 m squared. This results in a resistance of 6.72x10^-4 ohms. In this case, stretching quadruples the original resistance.


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