Copper Wire & Cable - Reference Data

Poor choice in wires for electrical circuits is a common problem and often a dilemma. Ohms Law (and the laws of thermodynamics) requires good reference data on the properties of electrical wires and cables to validate optimum/economical wire choice. While the specific current ratings for cables may be represented by wire manufactures, guided by international best-practice, some excellent reference data on the sizes and characteristics of copper wires (and other cables) is available here courtesy of Leroy Davis:

http://www.interfacebus.com/Copper_Wire_AWG_SIze.html

and for UK sizes from other resources:

http://www.simetric.co.uk/siwire_elect.htm

and

http://www.rbeelectronics.com/wtable.htm

Physical & Electrical Characteristics for AWG Copper Wires

AWG gauge
Diam. mils
Ohms per 1000 ft
Ft per pound
Feet per Ohm
Max amps
Ampacity
0000 460 0.0490 1.56 20400.0   312
000 410 0.0618 1.97 16180.0   262
00 365 0.0779 2.48 12830.0   220
0 325 0.0983 3.13 10180.0   185
1 289 0.1239 3.95 8070.0   156
2 258 0.1563 4.98 6400.0 22.0000 131
3 229 0.1970 6.28 5075.0 17.5000 110
4 204 0.2485 7.91 4025.0 13.8000 92.3
5 182 0.3133 9.98 3192.0 11.0000 77.6
6 162 0.3951 12.58 2531.0 8.7100 65.2
7 144 0.4982 15.87 2007.0 6.9100 54.8
8 128 0.6282 20.01 1592.0 5.4800 46.1
9 114 0.7921 25.23 1262.0 4.3500 38.7
10 102 0.9989 31.82 1001.0 3.4400 32.5
11 91 1.2600 40.12 794.0 2.7400 27.3
12 81 1.5880 50.59 629.6 2.1700 23
13 72 2.0030 63.80 499.3 1.7200 19.3
14 64 2.5250 80.44 396.0 1.3700 16.2
15 57 3.1840 101.40 314.0 1.0830 13.6
16 51 4.0160 127.90 249.0 0.8530 11.5
17 45.3 5.0640 161.30 197.5 0.6810 9.6
18 40.3 6.3850 203.40 156.6 0.5390 8.1
19 35.9 8.0510 256.50 124.2 0.4270 8.25
20 32.0 10.1500 323.40 98.5 0.3370 10.12
21 28.5 12.8000 407.80 78.1 0.2690 12.76
22 25.4 16.1400 514.20 62.0 0.2120 16.25
23 22.6 20.3600 648.40 49.1 0.1700 20.3
24 20.1 25.6700 817.70 39.0 0.1330 25.6
25 17.9 32.3700 1031 30.9 0.1056 32.2
26 15.9 40.8100 1300 24.5 0.0853 40.7
27 14.2 51.4700 1639 19.4 0.0672 51.3
28 12.6 64.9000 2067 15.4 0.0530 64.8
29 11.3 81.8300 2607 12.2 0.0148 81.6
30 10.0 103.2000 3287 9.7 0.0333 103
31 8.9 130.1000 4145 7.7 0.0270 130
32 7.95 164.1000 5227 6.1 0.0213 164
33 7.08 206.9000 6591 4.8 0.0163 206
34 6.31 260.9000 8310 3.8 0.0128 260
35 5.62 329.0000 10480 3.0   328
36 5.00 414.8000 13210 2.4   414
37 4.45 523.1000 16660 1.9   523
38 3.96 659.6000 21010 1.5   660
39 3.53 831.8000 26500 1.2   832
40 3.15 1049.0000 33410 1.0   1049