Adhesive copper tape

[Lampyris noctiluca]

Hi folks, it may be a bit of a dumb question, but will a length of 25mm x0.05mm copper tape have the same current carrying capacity as a 1.25mm2 length of copper wire?

 

[hank]

You mean before it turns red hot and melts?

 

[Lampyris noctiluca]

You mean before it turns red hot and melts?

Not quite, I wanted to avoid making a fuse

 

[TEEJ]

Hi folks, it may be a bit of a dumb question, but will a length of 25mm x0.05mm copper tape have the same current carrying capacity as a 1.25mm2 length of copper wire?

What is the diameter of the copper wire?

I see 1.25mm2 for length, which doesn't make sense...

What is the length of the copper tape?

If the tape is 25 mm wide and 0.05 mm thick...and the cross sectional area of the copper wire is 1.25 mm2 (Is that what you meant?)

You can at least plug in values for length to see what resistance you have for the involved distances.

 

[eh4]

What I thought OP was getting at, without resorting to checking his math, was if you have a given cross section of copper can it be either round (minimal surface area) or extremely flattened (much greater surface area) without changing it's current conductance?
I would guess that the tape might handle More current at reasonable temperatures as long as it's well soldered at the ends.

 

[Lampyris noctiluca]

Sorry for the confusion, 1.25mm csa not length. It doesn't happen often, but I was typing faster than my brain was working!

Eh4- that was what I was thinking when I posted the original question, the csa is the same it just didn't seem right that something so thin could handle the same current....

Thanks all for the swift replies.

 

[VegasF6]

Doesn't seem any different than a circuit board trace.

 

[BoarHunter]

What is the diameter of the copper wire?

I see 1.25mm2 for length, which doesn't make sense...

What is the length of the copper tape?

If the tape is 25 mm wide and 0.05 mm thick...and the cross sectional area of the copper wire is 1.25 mm2 (Is that what you meant?)

You can at least plug in values for length to see what resistance you have for the involved distances.

The international practice for electric round wire is to give its cross section in square millimeter. They exist in a standard serie, eg 1, 1.5, 2.5, 4, 6 mm2

So indeed, the resistance per unit of length here is the same.
Resistance in Ohm is resistivity X length/section area. Copper resisitivity is 1.7 10E-8 Ohm x meter for CC at 25°

Note that the tape will be able to cool better thus will be able to carry more current than a round wire of the same section.

Looks like in England, math is even worse than in the US

 

[BobBarker]

+1 ^

enameled in a vacuum they would be the same...

But as BoarHunter said, if there is any air flow, the tape would carry more current (assuming that the adhesive isn't included in that .05mm thickness)

 

[Quest4fire]

Just out of curiosity, what is the intended use of the tape?