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constantan

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Also known as Eureka, Advance, Ferry

Constantan refers to a copper-nickel alloy commonly used for its stable electrical resistance across a wide range of temperatures. Alternatively it is known in various contexts as Eureka, Advance, or Ferry. It usually consists of 55% copper and 45% nickel. Its main feature is the low thermal variation of its resistivity, which is constant over a wide range of temperatures. Other alloys with similarly low temperature coefficients are known, such as manganin (Cu [86%] / Mn [12%] / Ni [2%] ).

Key facts

Material.name
Constantan
Material.image
Konstantandraht.jpg
Material.caption
A spool of Constantan wire
Material.type
Copper-nickel alloy
Material.youngs_modulus
162 GPa
Material.tensile_strength
~450 MPa
Material.elongation
~0.25%
Material.surface_resistivity
0.56 μΩ·m

via Wikipedia infobox

~4 min read

Encyclopedic overview

9 sections
Contents
  • History
  • Constantan alloy
  • A-alloy
  • P alloy
  • Physical properties
  • Temperature measurement
  • References
  • Bibliography
  • External links

Constantan refers to a copper-nickel alloy commonly used for its stable electrical resistance across a wide range of temperatures. Alternatively it is known in various contexts as Eureka, Advance, or Ferry. It usually consists of 55% copper and 45% nickel. Its main feature is the low thermal variation of its resistivity, which is constant over a wide range of temperatures. Other alloys with similarly low temperature coefficients are known, such as manganin (Cu [86%] / Mn [12%] / Ni [2%] ).

==History== In 1887, Edward Weston discovered that metals can have a negative temperature coefficient of resistance, inventing what he called his "Alloy No. 2." It was produced in Germany where it was renamed "Konstantan".

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “constantan” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.