Electric Resistivity Converter
About Electric Resistivity Converter
Electric resistivity is an intrinsic material property that describes how strongly a material opposes current flow, independent of its shape or size — unlike resistance, which depends on a specific object's length and cross-section. Resistivity is what makes copper an excellent conductor and rubber an excellent insulator, regardless of how thick or long a sample of either happens to be.
Our Electric Resistivity converter supports the SI unit, ohm meter (Ω·m), along with ohm centimeter and ohm inch for smaller scales, and microhm centimeter and microhm inch for the very low resistivity values typical of good conductors like copper and silver. The CGS system contributes abohm centimeter and statohm centimeter, and circular mil ohm/foot is a specialized unit used specifically in US wire specifications, combining the circular mil (wire cross-sectional area unit) with resistance per foot of length.
To use the converter, select your starting and target units from the dropdown lists and enter a value — the result is calculated instantly to up to 12 significant digits. For example, converting copper's resistivity of about 1.68 × 10⁻⁸ ohm meter to circular mil ohm/foot gives approximately 10.09, the standard reference value used throughout US wire gauge (AWG) resistance tables.
Resistivity underlies wire and conductor selection: resistance = resistivity × length ÷ cross-sectional area, so knowing a material's resistivity lets engineers calculate exactly how much resistance (and therefore voltage drop and power loss) a specific length and gauge of wire will have. Materials scientists use resistivity to characterize and compare metals, alloys, and semiconductors, and resistivity measurements are a standard quality-control check in manufacturing conductive materials and components.
All conversion factors used in this tool are drawn from standard, internationally recognized unit definitions, so results are dependable for wire and cable engineering, materials science, and physics coursework. The converter is free, requires no account, and works equally well on desktop and mobile devices.
Frequently Asked Questions — Electric Resistivity Converter
Question: What is electric resistivity?
Answer: Electric resistivity is an intrinsic material property describing how strongly a material opposes current flow, independent of its shape or size. It is measured in ohm-meter (Ω·m) in SI units, unlike resistance, which depends on a specific object's dimensions.
Question: What units can the Electric Resistivity converter handle?
Answer: This converter handles ohm meter (the SI unit), ohm centimeter, ohm inch, microhm centimeter, microhm inch, abohm centimeter, statohm centimeter, and circular mil ohm/foot, a unit specific to US wire specifications.
Question: What is the difference between resistivity and resistance?
Answer: Resistivity is an intrinsic material property (like density), independent of shape or size. Resistance depends on both the material's resistivity and the specific object's dimensions: resistance = resistivity × length / cross-sectional area. A longer or thinner wire of the same material has higher resistance, but the same resistivity.
Question: What is circular mil ohm per foot, and why is it used?
Answer: Circular mil ohm/foot is a resistivity unit used specifically in US wire specifications, combining the circular mil (a wire cross-sectional area unit) with resistance per foot of length — it lets engineers directly calculate a wire's resistance from its AWG gauge and length without unit conversion.
Question: Where is electric resistivity used?
Answer: Resistivity values are used to select conductor materials for wiring (copper and aluminum have low resistivity, making them good conductors), to calculate wire resistance for a given length and gauge, and in materials science to characterize and compare the electrical properties of different metals, alloys, and semiconductors.