Copper Wire

Reference data and engineering information about copper wire for electrical applications.

copperwire

Overview

Engineering reference data for Copper Wire in electrical engineering.

Key Formulas

Power

$P = VI = I^2R = V^2/R$

Electrical power.

Variables

Symbol	Description	Unit
$V$	Voltage	V
$I$	Current	A
$R$	Resistance	Ω
$P$	Power	W

Data Table: Copper Wire Specifications

44 rows

Copper Wire Electrical Resistance and Physical Properties by AWG Gauge
AWG Gauge	Area(Circular Mils)	Diameter(mils)	Resistance @ 77°F (25°C)(Ω/1000 ft)	Resistance @ 149°F (65°C)(Ω/1000 ft)	Weight(lb/1000 ft)
0000 (4/0)	212000	460	0.05	0.057	641
000 (3/0)	168000	410	0.063	0.073	508
00 (2/0)	133000	365	0.0795	0.092	403
0 (1/0)	106000	325	0.1	0.116	319
1	83700	289	0.126	0.146	253
2	66400	258	0.159	0.184	201
3	52600	229	0.201	0.232	159
4	41700	204	0.253	0.292	126
5	33100	—	0.319	—	100
6	26300	162	0.403	0.465	79.5
7	20800	—	0.508	—	63
8	16500	128	0.641	0.739	50
9	13100	—	0.808	—	39.6
10	10400	102	1.02	1.18	31.4
11	8230	—	1.28	—	24.9
12	6530	81	1.62	1.87	19.8
13	5180	—	2.04	—	15.7
14	4110	64	2.58	2.97	12.4
15	3260	—	3.25	—	9.86
16	2580	51	4.09	4.73	7.82
17	2050	—	5.16	—	6.2
18	1620	40	6.51	7.51	4.92
19	1290	—	8.21	—	3.9
20	1020	32	10.4	11.9	3.09
21	810	—	13.1	—	2.45
22	642	25.3	16.5	19	1.94
23	509	—	20.8	—	1.54
24	404	20.1	26.2	30.2	1.22
25	320	—	33	—	0.97
26	254	15.9	41.6	48	0.769
27	202	—	52.5	—	0.61
28	160	12.6	66.2	76.4	0.484
29	127	—	83.4	—	0.384
30	101	10	105	121	0.304
31	79.7	—	133	—	0.241
32	63.2	8	167	193	0.191
33	50.1	—	211	—	0.152
34	39.8	6.3	266	307	0.12
35	31.6	—	335	—	0.095
36	25	5	423	488	0.076
37	19.8	—	533	—	0.06
38	15.7	4	673	776	0.048
39	12.5	—	848	—	0.038
40	9.9	3.1	1070	1230	0.02

Source: engineeringtoolbox.com

Important Formulas

The electrical resistance of a wire changes with temperature. For copper, the relationship is approximated by:

$R_2 = R_1 \left[1 + \alpha (T_2 - T_1)\right]$

Where:

$R_1$ is the resistance at temperature $T_1$ (reference).
$R_2$ is the resistance at temperature $T_2$ .
$\alpha$ is the temperature coefficient of resistance for copper ( $\approx 0.00393\ \text{per}^\circ\text{C}$ ).

The American Wire Gauge (AWG) standard relates gauge number $n$ to diameter $d$ in inches:

$d = 0.005 \cdot 92^{\frac{36-n}{39}}$

American Wire Gauge (AWG): A U.S. standard system for denoting the diameter of solid, round, electrically conducting wire. A higher AWG number indicates a thinner wire. The table above specifies properties for solid strand conductors.

Copper Wire

Overview

Key Formulas

Ohm's Law

Power

Energy

Variables

Data Table: Copper Wire Specifications

Important Formulas

Key Definitions

Interactive Charts

Copper Wire - electrical resistance vs. temperature

References