Why are electrical wires made up of loads of tiny copper fibres instead of one fat copper wire?

Question

Title essentially. What advantage does having loads of fibres have over one solid piece? Flexibility?

In: Physics

Answer 1

You can get both types. Generally speaking the thicker the wire, the more current it will be able to safely carry, but yes it’s less flexible. By having many strands the idea is that you get the best of both (with individual strands breaking not leading to a total failure). As a result the wire within the walls is usually thick, single core (because it never has to move) with only the cabling that gets manipulated by people needing the flexibility that many strands provide.