Question

a wire is cut into three equal parts and then connected in parallel. how will this alteration effect its

a) resistance b) resistivity ?

Answer 1

Resistivity depends on the material (e.g if its copper). So this doesn't change.

If the inital resistance is R, each piece has resistance R/3.

Connect 3 equal resistors in parallel and the total resistance is 1/3 of each separate resistor.

So we end up with a total resistance of 1/3 of R/3 = R/9.

So the resistance is 1/9 of the original wire's resistance. Hope this helps!!

Answer 2

Resistivity depends on the material (e.g if its copper). So this doesn't change.

If the inital resistance is R, each piece has resistance R/3.

Connect 3 equal resistors in parallel and the total resistance is 1/3 of each separate resistor.

So we end up with a total resistance of 1/3 of R/3 = R/9.

So the resistance is 1/9 of the original wire's resistance. Hope this helps!!