What Factors Effect the Resistance of a Wire?
HYPOTHESIS
I think that the `Thickness` `Length` and `Metal Type` are the three factors that effect the resistance of a wire.
The thickness of a wire effects it because of the amount of space for movement it has and how many particles to pass it on eg. If there was a thin wire and a thick wire than the thin wire would have the most resistance because there is less space for the electrons to move through, or another way to explain it , if you tried going through a tunnel ½ a meter wide you would find it harder than going through a tunnel 1 metre wide.
If the cross sectional area (Thickness)of one wire is 1mm and the cross sectional area of another wire is 2mm than I predict that the resistance in the first wire would be double that of the second wire.
The length of the wire affects it because of how far it goes e.g. If there was an obstacle coarse going for 10 metres and then another one went on for 15 metres, you would find it a lot easier and quicker in the first one.
If the length of 1 wire is 2cm and the length of another wire is 4cm then I predict that there would be twice as much resistance in the second wire.
The different types of metal can also effect the resistance because different metals have different resistance. This is due to the type or amount of electrons around the particles. e.g. Copper wire and Nichrome wire have totally different resistance as copper has a lower resistance than Nichrome which has quite a high resistance.
Lets say for copper you have to walk 20 metres and for nichrome you have to sprint 5 metres, swim 5 metres and for the last 10 metres you have to hurdle you would find the copper coarse more easier.
Resistance actually means how much current is being delayed, or set back for a while e.g. If your battery in a circuit gives out a current of 10 volts and goes through a resistor of 5 Ohms then lights a bulb of current 10 then the bulb would only be ½ as bright of one that you put in no resistor.