Welcome to brain Stuff from how stuff Works dot com where smart happens. Join Josh and Chuck, the guys who bring you stuff and should know, as they take a trip around the world to help you get smarter in a topsy turv economy. Check out the all new super Stuffed Guide to the Economy from how Stuff Works dot com, available now exclusively on iTunes Hi. I'm Marshall Brain with today's question, can you explain the diameter measurements used in wire?
The measurement system used for wire is interesting. A w G stands for American wire gauge and is the standard in the United States for wire diameters and how she typically find ten, twelve, and fourteen gauge wire and electronics projects typically used twenty gauge wire. Wire gauges run from O O O gauge, which is about a half an inch in diameter, down to forty gauge, which is about point o O one in inches or a thousand of an inch in diameter. The higher the AWG number, the
thinner the wire. Where did this odds system come from? It has to do with the way wire was once made. Wire is drawn through dies to make it thinner. The more dies, the thinner the wire. The gauge number stems from how many holes the wire is drawn through when it's manufactured. Do you have any ideas or suggestions for this podcast? If so, please send me an email at podcast at how stuff works dot com. For more on this and thousands of other topics, go to how stuff works dot com