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Why overhead electric cables made up of aluminium and not copper?
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What elements make electric cable?
Copper and aluminium are used for electric cables.
What type of metal is a great conductor of electricity?
Silver is the best conductor of electricity, with copper a close second. Gold is third on the list followed by aluminium. Power distribution systems commonly use copper for underground power lines and aluminium for overhead lines.
What property term describes gold as conducting electricity?
The correct term is the conductivity of the metal. The conductivity of different metals can be found tables on the internet. Examples are: Silver (best) 6.30 x 10 to the power 7 S/m Copper 5.96 Gold 4.10 Aluminium 3.50 Tungsten 1.79 Copper is the most widely used metal for electric currents. Silver is 6% better while aluminium is 31% worse. However aluminium is used for overhead power lines because it is lighter and therefore the pylons can be made using a less massive design.
What is an aluminium bronze?
An aluminium bronze is an alloy of copper containing 5 percent to 10 percent aluminium.
What is aluminum and copper's reaction?
Nothing, they simply form a mixture in molten state. A mixture of 10% Aluminium in copper is Aluminium bronze.
What elements make electric cable?
Copper and aluminium are used for electric cables.
How does electric get to your home from a dam?
Along wires. Copper wires underground or aluminium overhead.
Why is lead used in high voltage cables?
Steel-reinforced aluminium cables are used for overhead lines because aluminium is much lighter than a copper conductor, despite not being quite as good a conductor as copper. The function of the steel reinforcement is to improve the tensile strength of the conductor.
Why copper is used insted of alluminium in wires?
Copper is always preferred in houses because it conducts electricity better and does not corrode on the surface as easily as aluminium. But for overhead electric wires, aluminium is preferred because it is much lighter and the pylons don't have to be so massive.
What is use as conductors?
Mainly metals. Silver is the best but copper is nearly as good and a lot cheaper. Aluminium is about 40% worse but is popular for overhead cables because they are lighter.
Why is metal use for electricity?
Metal is used because metals conduct electric current. The best conductor among the metals is silver, followed by copper, then aluminium. Copper is used for electrical wiring in the house and for underground supplies, while the lightness of aluminium makes it the metal of choice for overhead power lines.
What are some important uses of aluminum?
Aluminium is used in a wide range of things. Airplanes are mostly made of Aluminium. It is used in variety of things because it is both strong and lightweight. It is often used for overhead power cables as it is very light and an excellent conductor and not scarce like copper.
What is electric cables made from?
Usually copper with plastic insulation.
Why isn't sodium used for overhead power cables?
The power cables are mostly built with aluminum and not with sodium because sodium is highly reactive. Aluminium on the other hand is reactive as well but it only reacts one and them becomes aluminum oxide. Sodium keeps on reacting therefore is too dangerous.
What is the cable size that are used in 11kv system?
It depends on the power rating of the circuit but a common size would be 95 sq. mm up to about twice that. 11 kV systems are usually 3-phase 3-wire. Underground cables use copper while overhead ones tend to use uninsulated aluminium or aluminium conductor steel reinforced (ACSR) cables.
What metals are good conductors of electric current?
copper and aluminium are the most common, but aluminium isn't as good as copper because it puts to much resistance on the electricity causing it to heat up.
Why do metal alloys used in electrical wires?
Most electrical wires use unalloyed copper. The exception is high-power overhead lines that use aluminium for its low density, which means there is a lot less mass for the towers to support, so they are lighter and less expensive. Aluminium overhead cables are either ACSR - aluminium core, steel reinforced, which uses multi-strand cables with steel strands in the centre; or AAAC which is all-aluminimum alloy conductor. AAAC cables use an aluminium-magnesium-silicon alloy with silicon 0.5-0.9%, magnesium 0.6-0.9%, iron 0.5% max, copper 0.1%, manganese 0.03%, chromium 0.03%, zinc 0.1%, boron 0.06%. The purpose of adding other elements is to increase the tensile strength of the conductors so they can be tensioned up without too much dangling.
