What happens to resistance when the conductor diameter is increased?

Answer 1

Simply Stated: As electrons move across a wire, they constantly collide with atoms making up a wire. These collisions impede the flow of electrons and are what cause the wire to have resistance. Thus, if the diameter of the wire were larger, it would only make sense that the electrons don't collide as much, therefore creating less resistance due to a larger wire. This is all in accordance to Ohm's law. The resistance is the ratio of the voltage difference across an object to the current that passes through the object due to the existence of the voltage difference. If the object is made of a material that obeys Ohm's Law, then this ratio is constant no matter what the voltage difference is.

Consider a copper wire that passes some amount of current, say 1 A, when a voltage difference of 1 V is applied between the ends of the wire. Now consider an identical but separate wire connected across that same 1V potential difference. You would expect that it would also conduct 1 A.

Now think of joining those two wires together side by side into one, thicker wire. It is reasonable to expect that this wire should carry 2 A of current if the potential difference across the wires is still 1 V. Thus, the new, thicker wire will have a reduced resistance of 1/2 Ohm compared to the original wire with its resistance of 1 Ohm.

Basically, a thicker wire creates additional paths for current to flow through the wire.

Answer 2

If you are referring to the voltage drop on a wire decreasing as the diameter of a wire is increased, it is because there is less resistance in the larger wire than the small one. Doesn't take as much voltage to push through the conductor.

Answer 3

The resistance decreases.
An experiment that demonstrates this is if you blow through a single straw it is harder (more resistance) than if you try to blow through 3 straws in parallel (all of the straws at once).the area through which the electrons can flow will increase. resistance is given by R= [(resistivity)x(length)] / (cross sectional area). if the length is constant, restivity also remains constant for the same material if it has uniform composition. clearly you can see that the resistance is inversly proportional to cross sectional area.

Answer 4

resistance=resistivity*length/area

as thicknesss incresses area increses so resistance is inversely proportional

hence resistance decreses.

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Answer #2:

True, true. All true. But it may be easier to understand if you think about

how much traffic a 2-lane road can carry, then think about how much traffic

an 8-lane road can carry.