gcsescience.com                                       45                                       gcsescience.com

Electricity

The Resistance of Wires - Material.

Does the Resistance of a Wire depend on its Material?

Nearly all wires in a circuit are made of metal
because metals are good conductors of electricity.

The resistance of a wire depends on the material
from which the wire is made because
some metals are better conductors than others.

Most wires are made from copper but aluminium
wires are used between pylons in the national grid. 
Copper and aluminium both have a low resistance.
Wires made from iron or steel have a higher resistance.

Alloys can be made that have a very high resistance.
These can be useful for making variable resistors.

     Links      Electricity      Mains      Revision Questions