Gauge Calculator

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Wire Gauge (AWG) & Resistance Calculator

Calculate wire diameter, cross-sectional area, and electrical resistance for American Wire Gauge (AWG).

0000 (4/0) 000 (3/0) 00 (2/0) 0 (1/0) 1 AWG 2 AWG 4 AWG 6 AWG 8 AWG 10 AWG 12 AWG 14 AWG 16 AWG 18 AWG 20 AWG 22 AWG 24 AWG 26 AWG 30 AWG
Copper (Annealed) Aluminum Silver Gold
Diameter: —
Cross-Sectional Area: —
Total Resistance (at 20°C): —
Voltage Drop (at 10 Amps): —

Understanding American Wire Gauge (AWG)

The American Wire Gauge (AWG) is a standardized wire gauge system used primarily in North America for the diameters of round, solid, nonferrous, electrically conducting wire. The system is defined such that as the gauge number increases, the wire diameter decreases. This seemingly counterintuitive relationship stems from the historical manufacturing process where the gauge number represented the number of drawing steps required to reach the desired thickness.

The Mathematical Formula

The diameter of a wire in millimeters according to its AWG number (n) is calculated using the following formula:

dn = 0.127 mm × 92 (36-n)/39

For special "aught" sizes like 00 (2/0), 000 (3/0), and 0000 (4/0), the value of n is used as -1, -2, and -3 respectively.

Common AWG Applications

  • AWG 14: Standard household lighting circuits.
  • AWG 12: Standard household outlet circuits (20 Amp).
  • AWG 10: High-power appliances like dryers or water heaters.
  • AWG 0-4: Battery cables and main service entrances.
  • AWG 22-24: Data cables (Ethernet, telephone) and electronics breadboarding.

Material and Resistance

Resistance is not just a function of thickness (gauge) and length, but also the material's resistivity (ρ). Copper is the industry standard due to its high conductivity and relatively low cost. Aluminum is lighter and cheaper but has higher resistivity, meaning a thicker gauge is required to carry the same current as a thinner copper wire without overheating.

AWG Diameter (mm) Area (mm²) Resistance (Ω/km)
10 2.588 5.26 3.28
12 2.053 3.31 5.21
14 1.628 2.08 8.28
16 1.291 1.31 13.17
function calculateWireProperties() { var n = parseFloat(document.getElementById('wireGauge').value); var length = parseFloat(document.getElementById('wireLength').value); var rho20 = parseFloat(document.getElementById('materialType').value); var temp = parseFloat(document.getElementById('tempCelsius').value); if (isNaN(length) || length <= 0) { alert("Please enter a valid length."); return; } // Calculate Diameter (mm) // Formula: d = 0.127 * 92 ^ ((36-n)/39) var diameter = 0.127 * Math.pow(92, (36 – n) / 39); // Calculate Cross-sectional Area (mm2) // Formula: Area = (pi/4) * d^2 var area = (Math.PI / 4) * Math.pow(diameter, 2); // Resistance calculation (R = rho * L / A) // rho is in ohm*mm2/m, length in m, area in mm2 // Correcting for temperature: R = R20 * (1 + alpha * (T – 20)) // alpha for copper is approx 0.00393 var alpha = 0.00393; var baseResistance = (rho20 * length) / area; var finalResistance = baseResistance * (1 + alpha * (temp – 20)); // Voltage Drop (V = I * R) – using 10A as a default example var voltDrop = 10 * finalResistance; // Display results document.getElementById('resultsArea').style.display = 'block'; document.getElementById('resDiameter').innerText = diameter.toFixed(4) + " mm (" + (diameter / 25.4).toFixed(4) + " in)"; document.getElementById('resArea').innerText = area.toFixed(4) + " mm²"; document.getElementById('resResistance').innerText = finalResistance.toFixed(5) + " Ω"; document.getElementById('resVoltDrop').innerText = voltDrop.toFixed(3) + " V"; }

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