How does power draw differ between thick and thin cabling?

Hint: Manipulate Ohm’s Law…does resistance increase or decrease with increased cabling diameter/

When comparing thick and thin cabling, you have to first understand the fundamental difference between the two. The resistance of a thin cable is greater than that of a thick cable because at an atomic level, a thin wire has fewer electrons to carry the current.

As such, the relationship between the area of a cable’s cross section and resistance is inversely proportional (more resistance with thinner cabling). Knowing Ohm’s Law, we can manipulate the power equation to get this relationship between resistance and power draw.

  1. Ohm’s Law
V = IR
  1. Power Equation
P = IV
P = I^2R

As such, thinner cabling has greater power draw. For high power applications, thicker cabling is used for safety purposes in less heat generation.

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Quora Discussion

Fundamental Difference between Thick/Thin Cabling