PHYSICSWORKSHEETRESISTIVITY

Variousfactorsaffecttheresistanceofamaterial:
1. Temperature.Theresistanceofallsubstanceschangestosomedegreewith
temperature.Inthecaseofpuremetals,theresistanceincreasesrapidlywitha
riseintemperature.
2. Length.Resistanceofauniformconductorisdirectlyproportionaltoitslength.
Whenlengthincreases,resistanceincreases.
3. CrossSectionalArea.Theresistanceofauniformconductorisinversely
proportionaltoitscrosssectionalarea.Whencrosssectionalareaincreases,
resistancedecreases.
4. MaterialProperties.Theresistanceofagivenconductordependsonthematerial
fromwhichitismade.Anumericalvaluecalledtheresistivityisassignedto
materialsbasedonhowwelltheyconductelectricity.
Toremembertrendsinelectricalresistance,itishelpfultothinkofwaterflowing
inapipe.Ifthelengthofthepipeincreases,theresistanceincreases.Thinkof
drinkingthroughaverylongstrawItwouldtakealotofeffort!Ontheother
hand,increasingthediameter(andsothecrosssectionalarea)decreasesthe
resistance.Astrawwithabiggerdiameteriseasiertouse,especiallywhendrinking
thosethickfastfoodstoremilkshakes.

Bringingallofthesetrendstogetherresultsinthisformula:

istheresistance,

istheresistivityofthematerial,

islength,and

iscrosssectionalarea.Belowaretheresistivitiesof

Material
aluminum
copper
iron
nichrome
platinum
silver

Resistivity
(ohmmeters)
2.82x108
1.72x108
9.68x108
100x108
10.0x108
1.63x108

Problems
1. Computetheresistanceofahardened
copperrod2meterslongand8mm
(8x103meters)indiameterifthe
resistivityofthematerialis1.756
x108ohmmeters.
2. Whatistheresistanceofacopper
wire20meterslongand0.81mmin
diameterat20?
3. Theresistanceofauniformcopper
wire50.0meterslongand1.15mmin
diameteris0.830ohmsat20C.
Whatistheresistivityofthe
copperatthistemperature?
4. Findtheresistanceofalengthof
wire50meterslongand8mmin
diameterifitismadeof(a)
alumimum,(b)copper,(c)iron,(d)
platinum,and(e)silver.
5. At20C,33metersofcopperwire
hasaresistanceof0.639ohms.What
istheresistanceof165meters?
6. Asquarealuminumrodis1.0meters
longand5.0mmoneachside.What
istheresistancebetweenisends?
Whatmustbethelengthofoneside
ofasquarecopperrodifits
resistanceistobethesame?
7. Arectangularblockofironis15cm
longand1.2cmoneachedge.
a) Whatistheresistanceofthe
blockmeasuredbetweenthetwo
squareends?
b) Whatistheresistanceofthe
blockmeasuredbetweentwo
oppositerectangularfaces?
8. Whichconductorinthechartabove
ismostlikelytobeusedinheating
elementsforelectricstovesand
ovens?Explain.