The Metal, the Shape, and What the Axes Say

You'll learnwhat a wire's resistance actually depends on, why a lamp does not keep one resistance, and how to read the slope of a current-voltage graph without getting it backwards.

Cut a wire in half and its resistance halves while its resistivity does not move at all. Push a lamp harder and its resistance climbs as you push. Twelve short steps; press Next for each one.

12 STEPS · 6 QUICK CHECKS · MATERIAL AND SHAPE · THE SQUARE · READ THE AXES · v2

ρ is the metal, R is the object · a steep line here is a small R

Before you start

What you're looking at

A piece of wire whose length and thickness change, then a plot with current on the vertical axis and potential difference on the horizontal.

The question

What does a resistance depend on, and when is voltage over current a constant?

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