GCSE Physics Coursework - Resistance of a Wire Coursework Resistance of a Wire Task To investigate how the resistance of a wire is affected by the length of the wire. Theory What is resistance? Electricity is conducted through a conductor, in this case wire, by means of free electrons. The number of free electrons depends on the material and more free electrons means a better conductor, i.e. it has less resistance. For example, gold …showed first 75 words of 1612 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1612 total… not allowed to cool completely so that the temperature was higher for that measurement. Whilst unlikely (due to the two sets of results), this would cause a higher resistance as explained previously. However, it is now known, after researching the metal alloy "constantan," that the resistivity (the electrical resistance of a conductor of particular area and length) of this alloy is not affected by temperature. Therefore, in these experiments Ohm's Law does not apply.