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Americanwiregauge
FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Americanwiregauge(AWG),alsoknownastheBrown&Sharpewiregauge,isastandardizedwiregaugesystemusedsince1857
predominantlyinNorthAmericaforthediametersofround,solid,nonferrous,electricallyconductingwire.Dimensionsofthewiresaregivenin
ASTMstandardB258.[1]Thecrosssectionalareaofeachgaugeisanimportantfactorfordeterminingitscurrentcarryingcapacity.
Increasinggaugenumbersdenotedecreasingwirediameters,whichissimilartomanyothernonmetricgaugingsystems.Thisgaugesystem
originatedinthenumberofdrawingoperationsusedtoproduceagivengaugeofwire.Veryfinewire(forexample,30gauge)requiredmore
passesthroughthedrawingdiesthandid0gaugewire.Manufacturersofwireformerlyhadproprietarywiregaugesystemsthedevelopmentof
standardizedwiregaugesrationalizedselectionofwireforaparticularpurpose.
TheAWGtablesareforasingle,solid,roundconductor.TheAWGofastrandedwireisdeterminedbythecrosssectionalareaoftheequivalent
solidconductor.Becausetherearealsosmallgapsbetweenthestrands,astrandedwirewillalwayshaveaslightlylargeroveralldiameterthana
solidwirewiththesameAWG.
AWGisalsocommonlyusedtospecifybodypiercingjewelrysizes(especiallysmallersizes),evenwhenthematerialisnotmetallic.[2]

Contents
1Formula
1.1Rulesofthumb
2TablesofAWGwiresizes
3StrandedwireAWGsizes
4Nomenclatureandabbreviationsinelectricaldistribution
5Pronunciation
6Seealso
7References
8Furtherreading
9Externallinks

Formula
Bydefinition,No.36AWGis0.005inchesindiameter,andNo.0000is0.46inchesindiameter.Theratioofthesediametersis1:92,andthere
are40gaugesizesfromNo.36toNo.0000,or39steps.Becauseeachsuccessivegaugenumberincreasescrosssectionalareabyaconstant
multiple,diametersvarygeometrically.Anytwosuccessivegauges(e.g.A&B)havediametersintheratio(dia.Bdia.A)of
(approximately1.12293),whileforgaugestwostepsapart(e.g.A,B&C),theratiooftheCtoAisabout1.12293=1.26098.Thediameterofa
No.nAWGwireisdetermined,forgaugessmallerthan00(36to0),accordingtothefollowingformula:

(seebelowforgaugeslargerthanNo.0(i.e.No.00,No.000,No.0000).)orequivalently

Thegaugecanbecalculatedfromthediameterusing[3]

andthecrosssectionareais
,

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ThestandardASTMB25802(2008)StandardSpecificationforStandardNominalDiametersandCrossSectionalAreasofAWGSizesof
SolidRoundWiresUsedasElectricalConductorsdefinestheratiobetweensuccessivesizestobethe39throotof92,orapproximately
1.1229322.[4]ASTMB25802alsodictatesthatwirediametersshouldbetabulatedwithnomorethan4significantfigures,witharesolutionof
nomorethan0.0001inches(0.1mils)forwireslargerthanNo.44AWG,and0.00001inches(0.01mils)forwiresNo.45AWGandsmaller.
SizeswithmultiplezerosaresuccessivelylargerthanNo.0andcanbedenotedusing"numberofzeros/0",forexample4/0for0000.Foranm/0
AWGwire,usen=(m1)=1mintheaboveformulas.Forinstance,forNo.0000or4/0,usen=3.

Rulesofthumb
Thesixthpowerofthisratioisverycloseto2,[5]whichleadstothefollowingrulesofthumb:
Whenthediameterofawireisdoubled,theAWGwilldecreaseby6.(e.g.,No.2AWGisabouttwicethediameterofNo.8AWG.)
Whenthecrosssectionalareaofawireisdoubled,theAWGwilldecreaseby3.(e.g.,TwoNo.14AWGwireshaveaboutthesame
crosssectionalareaasasingleNo.11AWGwire.)
Adecreaseoftengaugenumbers,forexamplefromNo.10to1/0,multipliestheareaandweightbyapproximately10andreducestheresistance
byafactorofapproximately10.Aluminumwirehasaconductivityofapproximately61%ofcopper,soanaluminumwirehasnearlythesame
resistanceasacopperwire2AWGsizessmaller,whichhas62.9%ofthearea.

TablesofAWGwiresizes
Thetablebelowshowsvariousdataincludingboththeresistanceofthevariouswiregaugesandtheallowablecurrent(ampacity)basedon
plasticinsulation.Thediameterinformationinthetableappliestosolidwires.Strandedwiresarecalculatedbycalculatingtheequivalentcross
sectionalcopperarea.Fusingcurrent(meltingwire)isestimatedbasedon25Cambienttemperature.ThetablebelowassumesDC,orAC
frequenciesequaltoorlessthan60Hz,anddoesnottakeskineffectintoaccount.Turnsofwireisanupperlimitforwirewithnoinsulation.
NEC

Turnsof
Diameter

Area

no

Copper

copper

resistance[6]

wire
ampacity

insulation

AWG

with
(in)

0000

wire,

(mm)

(per

(per

in)

cm)

(kcmil)

(mm2)

(/kft) 60/75/90C
insulation
(m/m) (m/ft)
(A)[7]

11.684* 2.17 0.856

212

107

0.1608

0.04901

0.4096

10.405

2.44 0.961

168

85.0

0.2028

0.06180

0.3648

9.266

2.74

1.08

133

67.4

0.2557

0.07793

0.3249

8.251

3.08

1.21

106

53.5

0.3224

0.09827

0.2893

7.348

3.46

1.36

83.7

42.4

0.4066

0.1239

0.2576

6.544

3.88

1.53

66.4

33.6

0.5127

0.1563

0.2294

5.827

4.36

1.72

52.6

26.7

0.6465

0.1970

0.2043

5.189

4.89

1.93

41.7

21.2

0.8152

0.2485

000
(3/0)
00
(2/0)
0
(1/0)

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Approx.
equivalents

~10s

3.2kA

260
165/200/

2.7kA

225
145/175/

2.3kA

195
125/150/

1.9kA

170
110/130/

1.6kA

145
95/115/

1.3kA

130
115
70/85/95

Onderdonk,
Preece,

195/230/

85/100/

copper[8][9]

metric

(/km)

0.4600*

(4/0)

Fusingcurrent,

196/0.4

1.1kA
946A

1s

32
ms

33

182

kA

kA

26

144

kA

kA

21

115

kA

kA

16

91

kA

kA

13

72

kA

kA

10.2

57

kA

kA

8.1

45

kA

kA

6.4

36

kA

kA

5.1

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0.1819

4.621

5.50

2.16

33.1

16.8

1.028

0.3133

0.1620

4.115

6.17

2.43

26.3

13.3

1.296

0.3951

0.1443

3.665

6.93

2.73

20.8

10.5

1.634

0.4982

0.1285

3.264

7.78

3.06

16.5

8.37

2.061

0.6282

0.1144

2.906

8.74

3.44

13.1

6.63

2.599

0.7921

126/0.4
55/65/75

795A
668A

80/0.4
40/50/55

561A
472A
396A

84/0.3
10

0.1019

2.588

9.81

3.86

10.4

5.26

3.277

0.9989

11

0.0907

2.305

11.0

4.34

8.23

4.17

4.132

1.260

12

0.0808

2.053

12.4

4.87

6.53

3.31

5.211

1.588

13

0.0720

1.828

13.9

5.47

5.18

2.62

6.571

2.003

14

0.0641

1.628

15.6

6.14

4.11

2.08

8.286

2.525

15

0.0571

1.450

17.5

6.90

3.26

1.65

10.45

3.184

30/35/40

333A
56/0.3

20/25/30

15/20/25

280A
235A

50/0.25

198A

64/0.2

166A
140A

30/0.25
16

0.0508

1.291

19.7

7.75

2.58

1.31

13.17

4.016

17

0.0453

1.150

22.1

8.70

2.05

1.04

16.61

5.064

18

0.0403

1.024

24.8

9.77

1.62

0.823

20.95

6.385

//18

117A
32/0.2

//14

99A
83A

24/0.2

kA

4.0

23

kA

kA

3.2

18

kA

kA

2.5

14

kA

kA

2.0

11

kA

kA

1.6

8.9

kA

kA

1.3

7.1

kA

kA

1.0

5.6

kA

kA

798

4.5

kA

633

3.5

kA

502

2.8

kA

398

2.2

kA

316

1.8

kA

250

1.4

kA

198

1.1

kA

158

882

125

700

19

0.0359

0.912

27.9

11.0

1.29

0.653

26.42

8.051

20

0.0320

0.812

31.3

12.3

1.02

0.518

33.31

10.15

16/0.2

58.5A

21

0.0285

0.723

35.1

13.8

0.810

0.410

42.00

12.80

13/0.2

49A

22

0.0253

0.644

39.5

15.5

0.642

0.326

52.96

16.14

7/0.25

41A

99A

23

0.0226

0.573

44.3

17.4

0.509

0.258

66.79

20.36

35A

79A

24

0.0201

0.511

49.7

19.6

0.404

0.205

84.22

25.67

29A

62A

25

0.0179

0.455

55.9

22.0

0.320

0.162

106.2

32.37

24A

49A

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70A

kA

1/0.5,7/0.2,
30/0.1

551
A
440
A
348
A
276
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A
26

0.0159

0.405

62.7

24.7

0.254

0.129

133.9

40.81

27

0.0142

0.361

70.4

27.7

0.202

0.102

168.9

51.47

28

0.0126

0.321

79.1

31.1

0.160

0.0810

212.9

64.90

29

0.0113

0.286

88.8

35.0

0.127

0.0642

268.5

81.84

30

0.0100

0.255

99.7

39.3

0.101

0.0509

338.6

103.2

31

0.00893

0.227

112

44.1

0.0797

0.0404

426.9

130.1

32

0.00795

0.202

126

49.5

0.0632

0.0320

538.3

164.1

33

0.00708

0.180

141

55.6

0.0501

0.0254

678.8

34

0.00630

0.160

159

62.4

0.0398

0.0201

35

0.00561

0.143

178

70.1

0.0315

36

0.00500*

0.127*

200*

78.7

37

0.00445

0.113

225

38

0.00397

0.101

39

0.00353

40

0.00314

1/0.4,

39A

17A

31A

14A

24A

12A

20A

10A

15A

86A

9A

12A

69A

7A

10A

54A

206.9

6A

7.7A 43A

856.0

260.9

5A

6.1A 34A

0.0160

1079

329.0

4A

4.8A 27A

0.0250

0.0127

1361

414.8

4A

3.9A 22A

88.4

0.0198

0.0100

1716

523.1

3A

3.1A 17A

252

99.3

0.0157

0.00797

2164

659.6

3A

2.4A 14A

0.0897

283

111

0.0125

0.00632

2729

831.8

2A

1.9A 11A

0.0799

318

125

0.00989 0.00501

3441

1049

1A

1.5A

Diameter
AWG

7/0.15

7/0.12

1/0.25,
7/0.1

1/0.2,
7/0.08

Turnsof

NEC

wire,

Copper

copper

resistance

wire

no

Area

ampacity

insulation

with
(in)

218

20A

(mm)

(per

(per

in)

cm)

(kcmil)

(mm2)

(/kft) 60/75/90C
(m/m) (m/ft) insulation
(A)
(/km)

A
174
A
137
A
110
A

8.5
A

Fusingcurrent,
copper

Approx.
metric
equivalents

Onderdonk,
Preece,
~10s

1s

32
ms

*Exact(bydefinition)
IntheNorthAmericanelectricalindustry,conductorslargerthan4/0AWGaregenerallyidentifiedbytheareainthousandsofcircularmils
(kcmil),where1kcmil=0.5067mm.Thenextwiresizelargerthan4/0hasacrosssectionof250kcmil.Acircularmilistheareaofawireone
milindiameter.Onemillioncircularmilsistheareaofacirclewith1000mil=1inchdiameter.Anolderabbreviationforonethousandcircular
milsisMCM.

StrandedwireAWGsizes
AWGgaugesarealsousedtodescribestrandedwire.Inthiscase,itdescribesawirewhichisequalincrosssectionalareatothetotalofallthe
crosssectionalareasoftheindividualstrandsthegapsbetweenstrandsarenotcounted.Whenmadewithcircularstrands(seeCirclepacking),
thesegapsoccupyabout10%ofthewirearea,thusrequiringawireabout5%thickerthanequivalentsolidwire.

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Strandedwiresarespecifiedwiththreenumbers,theoverallAWGsize,thenumberofstrands,andtheAWGsizeofastrand.Thenumberof
strandsandtheAWGofastrandareseparatedbyaslash.Forexample,a22AWG7/30strandedwireisa22AWGwiremadefromseven
strandsof30AWGwire.

Nomenclatureandabbreviationsinelectricaldistribution
AlternatewaysarecommonlyusedintheelectricalindustrytospecifywiresizesasAWG.
4AWG(proper)
#4(thenumbersignisusedasanabbreviationfor"number")
No.4(No.isusedasanabbreviationfor"number")
No.4AWG
4ga.(abbreviationfor"gauge")
000AWG(properforlargesizes)
3/0(commonforlargesizes)Pronounced3aught
3/0AWG
#000
#3/0
Theindustryalsobundlescommonwireforuseinelectricpowerdistributioninhomesandbusinesses,identifyingabundle'swiresizefollowed
bythenumberofwiresinthebundle.Themostcommontypeofdistributioncable,NMB,isgenerallyimplied:
#14/2(alsowritten"142")isanonmetallicsheathedbundleoftwosolid14AWGwires.Theinsulationsurroundingthetwoconductorsis
whiteandblack.Thissheathfor14AWGcableisusuallywhitewhenusedforNMBwiringintendedforelectricaldistributioninadry
location.Newlymanufacturedcableswithoutaseparategroundwire(suchas#14/2)areobsolete.
#12/2withground(alsowritten"122w/gnd")isanonmetallicsheathedbundleofthreesolid12AWGwireshavingabaregroundinthe
middleoftwoinsulatedconductorsinaflatshapedNMByellowcoloredsheath.ThecolorisaNorthAmericanindustrystandardfor
cablesmadesince2003,andaidsidentification.
#10/3withground(alsowritten"103w/gnd")isanonmetallicsheathedbundleoffoursolid10AWGwireshavingabaregroundand
threeinsulatedconductorstwistedintoaroundshapedNMBorangecoloredsheath.Theinsulatedconductorsareblack,white,andred.
Somecableofthistypemaybeflattosavecopper.

Pronunciation
AWGiscolloquiallyreferredtoasgaugeandthezerosinlargewiresizesarereferredtoasaught/t/.Wiresized1AWGisreferredtoas"one
gauge"or"No.1"wiresimilarly,smallerdiametersarepronounced"xgauge"or"No.X"wire,wherexisthepositiveintegerAWGnumber.
ConsecutiveAWGwiresizeslargerthanNo.1wirearedesignatedbythenumberofzeros:
No.0,typicallywritten1/0andisreferredtoas"oneaught"wire
No.00,typicallywritten2/0andisreferredtoas"twoaught"wire
No.000,typicallywritten3/0andisreferredtoas"threeaught"wire,
andsoon.[10]

Seealso
IEC60228forinternationalstandardwiresizes
Standardwiregauge(formerBritishstandard)
Achartcomparingallknownwiregauges(PDF)
Number8wire,atermusedintheNewZealandvernacular
StubsIronWireGauge
Electricalwiring

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References
1. "ASTMB25814StandardSpecificationforStandardNominalDiametersandCrossSectionalAreasofAWGSizesofSolidRoundWiresUsedas
ElectricalConductors"(https://web.archive.org/web/20140722072347/http://www.astm.org/Standards/B258.htm).WestConshohocken:ASTM
International.Archivedfromtheoriginal(http://www.astm.org/Standards/B258.htm)on22July2014.Retrieved22March2015.(subscriptionrequired)
2. SteelNavel.comBodyPiercingJewelrySizeReferenceillustratingthedifferentwaysthatsizeismeasuredondifferentkindsofjewelry
(http://www.steelnavel.com/reference.asp)
3. Thelogarithmtothebase92canbecomputedusinganyotherlogarithm,suchascommonornaturallogarithm,usinglog92x=(logx)/(log92).
4. ASTMStandardB25802,page4
5. Theresultisroughly2.0050,oronequarterofonepercenthigherthan2
6. Figureforsolidcopperwireat68F,computedbasedon100%IACSconductivityof58.0MS/m,whichagreeswithmultiplesources:
http://www.eskimo.com/~billb/tesla/wire1.txt
MarkLund,PowerStreamInc.,AmericanWireGaugetableandAWGElectricalCurrentLoadLimits
(http://www.powerstream.com/Wire_Size.htm),retrieved20080502(althoughtheft/mconversionseemsslightlyerroneous)
BeldenMasterCatalog(http://www.belden.com/products/catalogs/mastercatalog/),2006,althoughdatafromthereforgauges35and3740seems
obviouslywrong.
Highpurityoxygenfreecoppercanachieveupto101.5%IACSconductivitye.g.,theKanthalconductivealloysdatasheet
(http://www.kanthal.com/C12570A7004E2D46/062CC3B124D69A8EC1256988002A3D76/F6421C7808255963C12572BB001C8704/$file/5C4
3%20conductive%20alloys.pdf?OpenElement)listsslightlylowerresistancesthanthistable.
7. NFPA70NationalElectricalCode2014Edition(http://bulk.resource.org/codes.gov/).Table310.15(B)(16)(formerlyTable310.16)page70161,
Allowableampacitiesofinsulatedconductorsrated0through2000volts,60Cthrough90C,notmorethanthreecurrentcarryingconductorsin
raceway,cable,orearth(directlyburied)basedonambienttemperatureof30C.ExtractsfromNFPA70donotrepresentthefullpositionofNFPAand
theoriginalcompleteCodemustbeconsulted.Inparticular,themaximumpermissibleovercurrentprotectiondevicesmaysetalowerlimit.
8. ComputedusingequationsfromH.WayneBeatyDonaldG.Fink,eds.(2007),TheStandardHandbookforElectricalEngineers(15thed.),McGrawHill,
pp.425,ISBN0071441468
9. DouglasBrooks(December1998),"FusingCurrent:WhenTracesMeltWithoutaTrace"(http://www.ultracad.com/articles/fusing.pdf),PrintedCircuit
Design15(12):53
10. GlossaryofPowerTerms|EventSolutions(http://www.eventsolutions.com/web_extras/february_2006/glossary_of_power_terms)

Furtherreading
DonaldG.FinkandH.WayneBeaty,StandardHandbookforElectricalEngineers,EleventhEdition,McGrawHill,NewYork,1978,ISBN0
07020974X,page418andtable411.

Externallinks
HowtoGaugeTraces(http://www.ultracad.com/articles/wiregauge.pdf)
ConversionandcalculationofcablediametertoAWGandviceversa(http://www.sengpielaudio.com/calculatorcrosssection.htm)
Tableofwireresistivitiesforbiggergauge(insulationincluded)(http://www.bnoack.com/index.html?
http&&&www.bnoack.com/data/wireresistance.html)
BarecopperwireAWGNEMA/IECmetricstandardsizes(http://www.litzwire.com/wirediminsions.html)
Referenceforconversionsandmaximumsafecurrentloads(http://www.powerstream.com/Wire_Size.htm)
GlossaryofcommonElectricalTerms&ReferenceChart(http://www.dsmt.com/resources/glossaryofcommonelectricalterms)
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