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Comparison of SWG (red), AWG (blue) and IEC 60228 (black) wire gauge sizes from 0.03 to 200 mm² to scale on a 1 mm grid – in the SVG file, hover over a size to highlight it. In engineering applications, it is often most convenient to describe a wire in terms of its cross-section area, rather than its diameter, because the cross section is directly proportional to its strength and weight ...
The resistance of copper wire is approximately 1 ohms / 1000 feet for 10 AWG, 10 ohms / 1000 feet for 20 AWG, 100 ohms / 1000 feet for 30 AWG, and so on. [ 5 ] : 27 Because aluminum wire has a conductivity of approximately 61% of copper, an aluminum wire has nearly the same resistance as a copper wire that is two sizes ...
Cable sizing must therefore consider maximum demand, voltage drop over the cable, and current-carrying capacity. Voltage drop is usually the main factor considered, but current-carrying capacity is as important when considering short, high-current runs such as between a battery bank and inverter.
Conductors installed so that air can freely move over them can be rated to carry more current than conductors run inside a conduit or buried underground. High ambient temperature may reduce the current rating of a conductor. Cables run in wet or oily locations may carry a lower temperature rating than in a dry installation. A lower rating will ...
Accordingly, one pound of aluminum has the same current carrying capacity as two pounds of copper. [3] Since copper costs about four times as much as aluminum by weight (roughly US$4 /lb [5] vs. US$1 /lb [6] as of 2024), aluminum wires are one-eighth the cost of copper wire of the same conductivity.
Conductor sizes range from 12 mm 2 (#6 American wire gauge) to 750 mm 2 (1,590,000 circular mils area), with varying resistance and current-carrying capacity. For large conductors (more than a few centimetres in diameter), much of the current flow is concentrated near the surface due to the skin effect. The center of the conductor carries ...
Similarly, if two conductors are near each other carrying AC current, their resistances increase due to the proximity effect. At commercial power frequency, these effects are significant for large conductors carrying large currents, such as busbars in an electrical substation, [2] or large power cables carrying more than a few hundred amperes.
The following are nominal current ratings for copper conductors; long runs may require thicker wires to minimize voltage drop. White: 14 AWG wire (2.08 mm 2) for 15-amp circuits Yellow: 12 AWG wire (3.31 mm 2) for 20-amp circuits Orange: 10 AWG wire (5.26 mm 2) for 30-amp circuits