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Calculating and Measuring Resistivity

This document provides information about resistivity and measuring resistance per unit length. It lists typical resistivity values for iron and copper with different diameters. It suggests using long lengths of materials to measure resistivity with available meters to avoid waste. Measuring diameter can be challenging, and various techniques beyond a micrometer screw gauge, such as a microscope, mass, or volume measurements of long lengths, are options. The activity is from an Advancing Physics textbook.

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7 views1 page

Calculating and Measuring Resistivity

This document provides information about resistivity and measuring resistance per unit length. It lists typical resistivity values for iron and copper with different diameters. It suggests using long lengths of materials to measure resistivity with available meters to avoid waste. Measuring diameter can be challenging, and various techniques beyond a micrometer screw gauge, such as a microscope, mass, or volume measurements of long lengths, are options. The activity is from an Advancing Physics textbook.

Uploaded by

adylan
Copyright
© All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Understanding resistivity

Lab Resistivity
1. You can calculate and use resistivity values.
2. You can use units for resistance per unit length and resistivity correctly.

Practical advice
Typical values for resistance per unit length
 Iron: 0.56 mm, 0.5  m–1; 0.27 mm, 2  m–1
 Copper: 0.56 mm, 0.07  m–1; 0.27 mm, 0.3  m–1
To measure these resistivities with the meters available, most students will choose to use
long lengths so (to avoid waste) it might be best to have one or two pre-prepared long lengths
already wound onto card or a bobbin.
Measuring the diameter is something of a challenge and a variety of techniques might be
suggested, of which the micrometer screw gauge is only one. Students may well suggest
using a microscope, mass of a long length, volume of a long length. The point here is that the
micrometer (which they have probably already met) is not the only possible device.

External references
This activity is taken from Advancing Physics Chapter 4, 350E

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