Talk:Wire

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This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, now in the public domain.

I always assumed Wire were from New Zealand originally. Is that the case? -- 165.121.112.xxx

No, they're from London, England. -- Paul Drye

Why are wires usually cylindrical? Why don't we use wires with a square or triangular cross-section?--195.229.242.83 19:00, 30 July 2006 (UTC)Noreen

I believe it is because it is easier to make a round hole in hard die materials than any other shape. 11:46, 25 February 2007 (UTC)

Square wire is sometimes used for winding coils, to get a denser coil.

[edit] wire-to-wire

What is 'wire-to-wire' victory in sports games?

[edit] stranded wire

I believe that the statement that stranded wire is worse than solid wire due to the inclusion of gaps is incorrect. It is no better than solid wire but no worse on account of the gaps. Here is the argument, and a reference to an authoritative source:

Since, at any particular frequency, the ratio of AC resistance to DC resistance of a cylindrical wire depends only on its diameter divided by the square-root of its resistivity, and since, because of the gaps among the strands, the average resistivity of a stranded wire as compared to a solid wire with the same cross-sectional conductor area is proportional to the square of the diameter, the effects of the stranded wire's greater diameter and greater average resistivity exactly cancel each other. Stranded wire of a particular gauge therefore has virtually the same resistance as solid wire of the same gauge for AC as well as DC currents, except that heating due to imperfect contact among the strands may further raise the resistance somewhat at high frequencies. [National Bureau of Standards, U.S. Department of Commerce, Circular C74, Radio Instruments and Measurements, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., 1937, pp. 300 and 306-307]