The diameters of electrical wires are designated by their “AWG” number. Smaller numbers are thicker wires.
AWG | Diameter (inch) | Diameter (mm) | Resistivity (Ω/km) | Max. current (A) |
---|---|---|---|---|
6 | 0.162 | 4.1148 | 1.295928 | 37 |
7 | 0.1443 | 3.66522 | 1.634096 | 30 |
8 | 0.1285 | 3.2639 | 2.060496 | 24 |
9 | 0.1144 | 2.90576 | 2.598088 | 19 |
10 | 0.1019 | 2.58826 | 3.276392 | 15 |
11 | 0.0907 | 2.30378 | 4.1328 | 12 |
12 | 0.0808 | 2.05232 | 5.20864 | 9.3 |
13 | 0.072 | 1.8288 | 6.56984 | 7.4 |
14 | 0.0641 | 1.62814 | 8.282 | 5.9 |
15 | 0.0571 | 1.45034 | 10.44352 | 4.7 |
16 | 0.0508 | 1.29032 | 13.17248 | 3.7 |
17 | 0.0453 | 1.15062 | 16.60992 | 2.9 |
18 | 0.0403 | 1.02362 | 20.9428 | 2.3 |
19 | 0.0359 | 0.91186 | 26.40728 | 1.8 |
20 | 0.032 | 0.8128 | 33.292 | 1.5 |
21 | 0.0285 | 0.7239 | 41.984 | 1.2 |
22 | 0.0253 | 0.64516 | 52.9392 | 0.92 |
23 | 0.0226 | 0.57404 | 66.7808 | 0.729 |
24 | 0.0201 | 0.51054 | 84.1976 | 0.577 |
25 | 0.0179 | 0.45466 | 106.1736 | 0.457 |
26 | 0.0159 | 0.40386 | 133.8568 | 0.361 |
27 | 0.0142 | 0.36068 | 168.8216 | 0.288 |
28 | 0.0126 | 0.32004 | 212.872 | 0.226 |
29 | 0.0113 | 0.28702 | 268.4024 | 0.182 |
30 | 0.01 | 0.254 | 338.496 | 0.142 |
31 | 0.0089 | 0.22606 | 426.728 | 0.113 |
32 | 0.008 | 0.2032 | 538.248 | 0.091 |
33 | 0.0071 | 0.18034 | 678.632 | 0.072 |
34 | 0.0063 | 0.16002 | 855.752 | 0.056 |
35 | 0.0056 | 0.14224 | 1079.12 | 0.044 |
36 | 0.005 | 0.127 | 1360 | 0.035 |
37 | 0.0045 | 0.1143 | 1715 | 0.0289 |
38 | 0.004 | 0.1016 | 2163 | 0.0228 |
39 | 0.0035 | 0.0889 | 2728 | 0.0175 |
40 | 0.0031 | 0.07874 | 3440 | 0.0137 |
Source: https://www.powerstream.com/Wire_Size.htm.
Resistance is for copper wire. Most other metals are worse conductors.
Maximum currents are guidance only. Different sources list different numbers. For instance: https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/wire-gauges-d_419.html. The thing that actually matters is how much voltage drop (and heat generation) you can tolerate.
There are many voltage drop calculators on the web. For instance: https://www.rapidtables.com/calc/wire/voltage-drop-calculator.html.