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Wire
Wire and cable are used to carry electrical current from one place to another. While many materials can conduct electricity, in wire we only want to move current, so we need a material with high conductivity so not much is lost in transport. For that reason copper is normally chosen for wire and it is also normally protected by an insulating layer of plastic or rubber to prevent unexpected losses or connections.
No matter how good the conductor it can only conducts so much current with some much volume of material. A good parallel is water and pipes, a small pipe can only let so much water through at once. If you try and get to much through at the one time the pipe cannot hold the pressure and it bursts. The same thing holds true with copper wire, each diameter of copper can cope with a certain amount of current. So what diameter can hold what current?
| Gauge | Diameter (Inches) | Feet/Ohm |
| 16 | 0.05082 | 249 |
| 18 | 0.04030 | 156.5 |
| 20 | 0.03196 | 98.5 |
| 22 | 0.02535 | 61.96 |
| 24 | 0.02010 | 38.96 |
| 26 | 0.01594 | 24.5 |
| 28 | 0.01264 | 15.41 |
| 30 | 0.01003 | 9.69 |
If you don't use wire that is rated high enough for your needs then you will end up with burnt our wire, ruining you circuit or worse a fire on your hands.
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