A thick wire will carry more current than a thin piece of wire...?

Question

Is this an example of Ohm's law?

Answer 1

In that resistance is inversely related to current, yes. Think of current as water in a pipe. A small pipe can carry a little water, but a large one can carry much more.

Answer 2

I agree with Steve. *Very* badly worded. The resistance of a piece of wire depends on three things; It's length, it's cross-sectional area, and the conductance of the material it's made of. If the other two are equal, longer length means greater resistance, larger cross-section means less resistance, and greater conductance means less resistance.

If the same voltage is applied across two wires of the same length and material, the with with the larger cross section will conduct more current and will be warmer (P = V²/R)

If the same amount of current is forced to flow through each wire, the smaller wire will have a larger voltage from one end to the other and it will be warmer (P = I²R)

Doug

Answer 3

Yes, but very poorly worded.

With the same voltage drop and length of wire, a thick one (having less resistance) will have a higher current flow.