Sophie Ahn

Planning
Write an aim- How does changing thickness of wire affect the resistance of copper wire (20SWG)?
Hypothesis- I think changing the thickness affects the resistance of wire, by slowing down
currents. Because the more wire doubles up there will be more spaces go through.

Variables Factor Description
Independent Thickness of wires Double the thickness of the wire (1
wire, 2 wire, etc).
Dependent Resistance Measured using average of voltage
and average of current from the
experiment that Ive done.
Fixed 1 Type of the wire copper wire (20SWG).
Fixed 2 Structure of circuit

Fixed 3 Voltage of power pack (5V) For every trials put arrange the same
voltage so I can compare the
differences and sameness.

Method:
Meterial:
Power pack
Connecting wires
Ammeter
Crocodile clips
Ruler
11pieces of wires cut in 10cm
Wooden board
Sophie Ahn


1. Cut 5 pieces of wire into 10cm.
2. Make a circuit following to the diagram (picture above).
3. Measure the current for circuit by ammeter
4. Then record the result on the table.
5. Do the same thing doubling the amount of wires (twist the wires together
so it goes together.
Thickness
(Number of
wires lined
up)
Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3 Average
Voltage
(V)
Current
(A)
Voltage
(V)
Current
(A)
Voltage
(V)
Current
(A)
Voltage
(V)
Current
(A)
1 0.004 0.25 0.004 0.25 0.004 0.25 0.004 0.25
2 0.003 0.25 0.003 0.25 0.003 0.25 0.003 0.25
3 0.002 0.25 0.002 0.25 0.002 0.25 0.002 0.25
4 0.002 0.25 0.002 0.25 0.002 0.25 0.002 0.25
5 0.001 0.25 0.001 0.25 0.001 0.25 0.001 0.25

Observation:
During the experimenting we had to add light bulb (resistance) to balance
the circuit.


Sophie Ahn

Thickness
(amount of wires)
R=V/A
Average Voltage
(V)
Average Current
(A)
Resistance ()
1 0.004 0.25 0.016
2 0.003 0.25 0.012
3 0.002 0.25 0.008
4 0.002 0.25 0.008
5 0.001 0.25 0.004



A straight line of best fit with a negative gradient (y = -0.0028x + 0.018)

Conclusion
According to the graph of my experiments resistance as thicker the wire gets the
lower the resistance is. Its because thicker wires have more spaces for electrons
to move around compare to a thin wire (Julian). For example if wires are tube, as
wider space the tube is the water flow better than water flowing in small spaced
tube (User27379).
y = -0.0028x + 0.018
0.000
0.002
0.004
0.006
0.008
0.010
0.012
0.014
0.016
0.018
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
R
e
s
i
s
t
a
n
c
e

(

)

Numbers of wire lined up
Resistance () vs. Thickness of wire
of wire

Sophie Ahn


Bibliography:
Julian, Hamm. "Furry Elephant: Science Teaching and Learning Ideas: Why Do Thick Wires Have
Lower Resistance?" Furry Elephant: Science Teaching and Learning Ideas: Why Do Thick Wires
Have Lower Resistance? Bing, 16 May 2010. Web. 06 Oct. 2014.
<http://furryelephantscienceteaching.blogspot.com/2010/05/why-do-thick-wires-have-lower.html>.

User27379. "Why Does the Thickness of a Wire Affect Resistance?" Electromagnetism. N.A, 11 Aug.
2013. Web. 06 Oct. 2014. <http://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/78673/why-does-the-
thickness-of-a-wire-affect-resistance>.

Validity of Hypothesis
The hypothesis of this experiment is, I think changing the thickness affects the
resistance of wire, by slowing down currents. Because the more wire doubles up
there will be more spaces go through. The conclusive statement is, According to
the graph of my experiments resistance as thicker the wire gets the lower the
resistance is. The conclusive statement prove that my hypothesis is correct.

Evaluation
-Improvements
Issue Impact Improvement
Two different thickness of
wire have same voltage
Its hard to compare the
result to get the
conclusive statement.
Cool down the
temperature of wire for
30 seconds per thickness
of wire experiments

-Extensions
Collect data over a wider range which would benefit scientific investigation. If I
collect the thickness of wire (number of wire lined up) one to twenty than it will
be easier to define the answer for the aim above which is How does changing
thickness of wire affect the resistance of copper wire (20SWG)? Also it would be
better to show a comparison of a lot of data collection, because conclusive
statement will be more accurate so its better to show reader with having a lot of
Sophie Ahn
data collection.