Whats the most commonly used material for electric cable?
interesting question for transmission cables it is aluminum – because it is cheaper than copper and for equal weight it is a better conductor than copper – important for overhead lines – where the weight matters a lot to the tower strength in residences – it is copper – for its better absolute conductivity so the question is – is there more length or weight of electric cable in transmission lines than residences.
Assuming you mean the conductor material as the insulation and sheathing can be many different materials. Copper is the main one as its conductivity verses cost is relatively good. Silver would conduct better but at much higher cost. Aluminum is used in overhead cables because it is light. Its cost is cheaper than copper so it is also used in some other cables but the cross sectional area has to be higher because its conductivity is lower. Aluminum tends to be used in larger cables because of the difficulty in making good connections to small aluminum cables. Many house fires are linked to the extensive use of smaller aluminum cables installed in the 1970’s, when there was a shortage of copper. If you look in the hardware store now, all the small stuff is copper, all the big stuff is aluminum.
