Why is the resistance of a long wire greater than a short wire?

Answer 1

The electricity that we use is the flow of electrons jumping from atom to atom within the atomic/molecular structure of the conducting material. Metals, like copper, commenly used for wires, have a dense molecular structure consisting of atoms that easily receive and release extra electrons. It does, however, require energy for an electron to pass through the space in between the atoms, resulting in a loss of energy. This loss of energy is mesured in resistance.

The longer the wire, the longer the chain of atoms an electron must jump between. Just like climbing a ladder, the longer the ladder, the more steps you must take to reach the end, and the more energy used.

Answer 2

when electrons move down a wire in electricity, the atoms (or ions technically) get in their way and cause resistance. the longer the wire, the more ions for the electrons to bump into on their path, and so, the greater the resistance

Answer 3

Resistance is the restriction of electrical flow in a component/wire/etc. If you think of a short fat wire as a short freeway and a long thin wire as a quiet country road then the answer is easy to find especially if you imagine 1 thousand cars all trying to travel the distance at once

Answer 4

-- A piece of wire behaves like a resistor. Granted, its resistance is very small, but it

has some.

-- Another piece of wire behaves like another resistor. Granted, its resistance is also

very small, but it has some.

-- When you twist one end of each piece of wire together, you get a longer wire.

Also, electrically, you have connected two resistors in series. As you know, the total

resistance of resistors connected in series is the sum of the individual resistances,

and is greater than either single resistance alone.

Answer 5

The resistance of a wire is directly proportional to its length. A longer wire has more resistance because there is more material for the electrons to travel through, resulting in more collisions and hindrances to the flow of current compared to a shorter wire.

Answer 6

Wire has a specific resistance per distance. So if you increase the distance, the resistance of that particular wire will be greater.

Answer 7

There are more particle collisions between electrons and atoms

Answer 8

Short wire have less resistance compared to that of long provided both have the same area of cross section.

Answer 9

Shorter.