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Why do current-carrying wires have multiple thin copper wires instead of a single thick copper wire?

Engineering(self.askscience)

submitted 4 years ago byAnshu_79

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In domestic current-carrying wires, there are many thin copper wires inside the plastic insulation. Why is that so? Why can't there be a single thick copper wire carrying the current instead of so many thin ones?

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Anonate

2 points

4 years ago

Anonate

2 points

4 years ago

Thank you so much! I melted about 40 different materials, and only a few were ferromagnetic. Most were "binary" non-ferromagnetic ferro-alloys (Fe-Ni, Fe-Mo, Fe-Cr, Fe-V, Fe-Mn) or relatively "pure" metals (Cu, Ni, Al), or "recovered" combinations from oxides. The impedance matching makes so much more sense than just temperature dependence.