The wire size chart below shows allowable ampacities of insulated conductors rated up to and including Wire Gauges run low to high - this means that the smaller a gauge number, the larger it is in mm. Conversely, a large number in AWG equates to a very small number of mm.Increasing gauge numbers denote logarithmically decreasing wire diameters, which is similar to many other non-metric gauging systems such as British Standard Wire Gauge (SWG). However, AWG is dissimilar to IEC 60228, the metric wire-size standard used in most parts of the world, based directly on the wire cross-section area (in square millimetres, mm²). The AWG originated in the number of drawing operations used to produce a given gauge of wire. Very fine wire (for example, 30gauge) required more passes through the drawing dies than 0gauge wire did. Manufacturers of wire formerly had proprietary wire gauge systems; the development of standardized wire gauges rationalized selection of wire for a particular purpose. The n gauge wire diameter d n in millimeters (mm) is equal to 0.127mm times 92 raised to the power of 36 minus gauge number n, divided by 39: American Wire Gauge ( AWG) is a logarithmic stepped standardized wire gauge system used since 1857, predominantly in North America, for the diameters of round, solid, nonferrous, electrically conducting wire. Dimensions of the wires are given in ASTM standard B 258. [1] The cross-sectional area of each gauge is an important factor for determining its current-carrying capacity. By definition, No. 36 AWG is 0.005 inches in diameter, and No.0000 is 0.46inches in diameter. The ratio of these diameters is 1:92, and there are 40 gauge sizes from No.36 to No.0000, or 39 steps. Because each successive gauge number increases cross sectional area by a constant multiple, diameters vary geometrically. Any two successive gauges (e.g., A and B ) have diameters whose ratio (dia. B ÷ dia. A) is 92 39 {\displaystyle {\sqrt[{39}]{92}}} (approximately 1.12293), while for gauges two steps apart (e.g., A, B, and C), the ratio of the C to A is about 1.12293 2 ≈ 1.26098.

What is AWG? The AWG standard was created by the Brown & Sharpe Company, a leading manufacturer of machinist technology in the late 1800s & early 1900s. The AWG standard was officially adopted & implemented as industry-standard sizing in 1857. Unfortunately, AWG does not fit comfortably in rounded mm or inches, so there will always need to be a small amount of rounding up or down depending on your need or purpose. If you want the technical formulae for converting between the two, it is as follows; AWG is also commonly used to specify body piercing jewelry sizes (especially smaller sizes), even when the material is not metallic. [2] Formulae [ edit ] For more information regarding wiring and cables, see our comprehensive guide here. AWG Gauge Table AWG gauge AWG or American Wire Gauge is the US standard measure for the diameter of electrical conductors. The American Wire Gauge chart is based on the number of dies originally required to draw the copper down to the required dimensional size. It means the higher the AWG number is, the smaller the wire diameter is. Our Belden cables and the pairs in instrumentation cable are some of the electrical cables where the conductor size is expressed as an AWG figure. Our Tri-Rated cable, compliant with American standard UL758, can be converted to AWG cable conductor sizes if required. Somehow we don't see ourselves nonchalantly calculating this in our heads every time we speak with an American customer, so we've made up a conversion table which we'd like to share for your convenience. AWG #While the AWG is essentially identical to the Brown & Sharpe (B&S) sheet metal gauge, the B&S gauge was designed for use with sheet metals as its name suggests. These are functionally interchangeable but the use of B&S in relation to wire gauges, rather than sheet metal gauges, is technically improper.

When calclating AWG from diameter or cross sectional area, the diameter and cross sectional area are rounded to the nearest AWG equivalent values. Wire diameter calculationThe largest diameter AWG size is 0000 (4/0) which is pronounced ‘four aught’, representing a diameter of .46″. The smallest diameter is 32 AWG, representing .00795″.