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Wire sized 1 AWG is referred to as "one gauge" or "No. 1" wire; similarly, thinner sizes are pronounced "x gauge" or "No. x" wire, where x is the positive-integer AWG number. Consecutive AWG wire sizes thicker than No. 1 wire are designated by the number of zeros: No. 0, often written 1/0 and referred to as "one-aught" or "single-aught" wire
For example, one common wire size used in the NEC has a conductor diameter of 0.5 inches, or 500 mils, and thus a cross-section of = circular mils, written as 250 kcmil or 250 MCM, which is the first size larger than 0000 AWG used within the NEC.
In commerce, the sizes of wire are estimated by devices, also called gauges, which consist of plates of circular or oblong form having notches of different widths around their edges to receive wire and sheet metals of different thicknesses. Each notch is stamped with a number, and the wire or sheet, which just fits a given notch, is stated to ...
A standard wire gauge. The British Standard Wire Gauge, often referred to as the Standard Wire Gauge or simply SWG, is a unit used to denote wire gauge (size) as defined by BS 3737:1964, a standard that has since been withdrawn. It is also known as the Imperial Wire Gauge or British Standard Gauge. Although its use has significantly declined ...
The skin effect and proximity effect cause conductors to exhibit higher resistance to alternating current (AC) than to direct current (DC). Due to the dual inverse nature of the electromagnetic field, the skin effect dominates at frequencies less than about 2 MHz; at higher frequencies, the proximity effect becomes the dominant force, and Litz wire induces more DC losses than solid wire or ...
A stranded wire with the same cross-section of conductor as a solid wire is said to have the same equivalent gauge and is always a larger diameter. However, for many high-frequency applications, proximity effect is more severe than skin effect, and in some limited cases, simple stranded wire can reduce proximity effect.
A wire or cable has a voltage (to neutral) rating and a maximum conductor surface temperature rating. The amount of current a cable or wire can safely carry depends on the installation conditions. The international standard wire sizes are given in the IEC 60228 standard of the International Electrotechnical Commission.
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 ...