What happens when a electricity passes through a really thin wire to a lightbulb? does it make it lighter or dimmer?
by 
kevinluke
ANSWERS: 1
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I think what you're driving at is that the light will become dimmer. Here's why: By Kirchoff's voltage law, the voltage provided by the source is equal to the voltage dropped across the wire (which is typically very small) and the voltage dropped across the light bulb. By a 'very thin wire' I assume you mean, thin enough to have an effect. Resistance of wire increases with decreacreasing diameter since Resistance = length times resistivity divided by area. Area in the denominator means that as it gets smaller, resistance goes up. As the resistance of the wire goes up, the voltage drop across the wire increases, robbing the light bulb of the voltage drop across it. The light from the bulb is proportional to the power dissipated in the filiment: V^2/R where R is the resistance of the light filiment. If V across the light is reduced because the wire resistance goes up, the light becomes dimmer....
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