Circular Mils (C.M.

)
Objectives

 In industry, dimensions of objects whether rectangular

or cylindrical are measured in inches.

 To this point wire sizes have not been metricated yet

 In a machine shop, very small dimensions (less than an
inch) are expressed as thousandths of an inch or
abbreviated to “thous”
 Ex. A piece of metal sheet that is 0.025 in. thick is said
to be “25 thou” thick.

 If a machinist is going to cut 0.005 inches off a piece of

work it is said that he will take “5 thou” off or 5
thousandths of an inch off the work.
 The decimal fraction is brought to a whole number to
make it easier to say.
 The diameters of most conductors is less than 1”, so
rather than expressing them in fractions of an inch they
are expressed in milli inches or mills.
Circular Mills
 Example #1

 How many mils are there in 0.5” ?

 Solution

 0.5 x 1000 = 500 mils

 Example #2

 How many mils are there in 0.36” ?

 Solution

 0.36 x 1000 = 360 mils

 Example #3

 How many mils are there in 0.007” ?

 Solution

 0.007 x 1000 = 7 mils

 Example #4

 How many mils are there in 2.8” ?

 Solution

 2.8 x 1000 = 2800 mils

 Example #5

 How many inches are there in 175 mils ?

 Solution

 175 mils = 0.175”

 1000
 Example #6

 How many inches are there in 50 mils ?

 Solution

 50 mils = 0.05”
 1000

Convert 1 7/8 “ to an improper fraction and then
convert to a decimal fraction to express in mils
 15/8” now convert that to a decimal fraction
 1.875” now convert that to mils
 1.875” x 1000 = 1875 mils
 Inches to mils


Convert 2 3/8 “ to an improper fraction and then
convert to a decimal fraction to express in mils
 19/8” now convert to a decimal fraction
 2.375” now convert that to mils
 2.375” x 1000 = 2375 mils
 Circular Mil Area

 The diameter does not give the total area of the

conductor cross section. Generally for most cylindrical
objects the area is calculated in square inches.
 Example #10

 What is the area in sq. in. of a circle 4” in diameter ?

A = 3.14 x 4
A = 12.56 sq in.
 Example #11

 What is the area in sq. in. of a circle 6” in diameter ?

A = 3.14 x 9
A = 28.26 sq in.
 When dealing with wires (conductors) we use
“circular mil area “ (C.M.A or C.M) are used so the very
small diameters of most conductors will be given in
whole numbers.

The diameter of a conductor 2 mils in diameter would have

a circular mil area of 4 C.M.

C.M.A. = d²
 This happens this way because as the diameter of the
conductor increases in 1 direction the area increases in
4 directions.
 Example #12

 Calculate the C.M.A of a round conductor 12 mils in

diameter.
C.M.A = d²
 12 mils²
 144 C.M.
 Example #13

 Calculate the circular mil area of a round conductor

with a diameter of 135 mils.
C.M.A. = d²
= 135²
= 18,225 C.M.
 Example #14

 There may be times when it is necessary to convert

from circular mil to diameter.

 Calculate the diameter of a round conductor with a

circular mil area of 25,500 C.M.
= 159.7 mils
 Example #15

 Calculate the C.M.A. of a conductor 9/16” in diameter

 Solution

 Convert 9/16” to a decimal fraction

 9/16 = 0.5625”

 Convert 0.5625” to mils

 0.5625 x 1000 = 562.5 mils

 C.M.A. = d²
 562.5²
 = 316,406 C.M.
 Example #16

 Calculate the C.M.A. of a conductor 7/8” in diameter.

 Solution

 Convert 7/8” to a decimal fraction = 0.875”

 Convert 0.875” to mils
 0.875 x 1000 = 875 mils

 C.M.A. =d²
 = 875²
 = 765,625 C.M.
 The cross-sectional area of an electrical conductor is
expressed in circular mil area but some conductors are
rectangular and square in shape. These conductors
must also be expressed in C.M.A. The reason for this is
the American Wire Gauge (AWG) is based on the C.M.A.
of a conductor and the rectangular cross-sectional
values must be expressed in C.M.A. so the equivalent
wire size can be found in the wire gauge tables.
Bus bars in a panel
 Sq. mil

 If 3.1416 is divided by 4 then the result is 0.7854

 To convert a C.M.A. to sq. mil area all that is required is

to multiply the C.M.A. by 0.7854
 Example #16

 What is the cross sectional area of a conductor 10 mils

in diameter ?
 A) Express in C.M.A.
 B) Express in sq. mil area

 Remember……….
 C.M.A = d²
 Sq. mil area = or multiply C.M.A by 0.7854
 Solution

A) C.M.A. = d²
=10²
=100 C.M.

B) Sq. mil area =

=3.1416 x 10²
4
=78.54 sq mils

Or 100 x 0.7854 = 78.54 sq. mils

 Example #17

 What is the cross sectional area of a conductor 13 mils

in diameter ?
 A) Express in C.M.A.
 B) Express in sq. mil area

 Remember……….
 C.M.A = d²
 Sq. mil area = or multiply C.M.A by 0.7854
 Solution

A) C.M.A. = d²
=13²
=169 C.M.

B) Sq. mil area =

=3.1416 x 13²
4
=132.66 sq mils

Or 169 x 0.7854 = 132.66 sq. mils

 Example #18

 What is the cross sectional area of a conductor 22 mils

in diameter ?
 A) Express in C.M.A.
 B) Express in sq. mil area

 Remember……….
 C.M.A = d²
 Sq. mil area = or multiply C.M.A by 0.7854
 Solution

A) C.M.A. = d²
=22²
=484 C.M.

B) Sq. mil area =

=3.1416 x 22²
4
=379.94 sq mils

Or 484 x 0.7854 = 380.13 sq. mils

 Specific Resistance

 In order to compare the resistance of different

conductors a standard must be established. This
standard must be comprised of the four factors which
affect resistance. That is, type of material, length,
cross sectional area and the temperature. The standard
system is ohms per foot, which is the resistance of a
material one foot in length and having a cross sectional
area of one circular mil.
 Temperature

 The temperature of a material will affect its resistance

and we will deal with that in a bit…….
 The following table will be used as our base table.
There are only two materials that we are concerned
with when it comes to conductor material.
 Copper and Aluminum

 From the table we can see that the specific resistance

of various metals differ greatly from one particular
metal to another.
 Temperature Resistance

 The resistance of a conductor is directly proportional to

its length and inversely proportional to its cross
sectional area. The following is the formula…
 Example #19

 What is the resistance of a piece of aluminum wire 200’

in length with a diameter of 30 mils ?

 1 step) find C.M.A. = d²

 = 30²
 = 900 C.M.

 2 step) find resistance of specific material (using chart)

Solution
 Example #20

 What is the resistance of a piece of aluminum wire 150’

in length with a diameter of 45 mils ?

 1 step) find C.M.A.

 2 step) find resistance of material

 Solution

 C.M.A. = d²
 = 45²
 =2025 C.M.

 R = 17 x 150
 2025

 = 1.25
 Example #21

 What is the resistance of a piece of copper wire 100’ in

length with a diameter of 23 mils ?

 1 step) find C.M.A.

 2 step) find resistance of material

 Solution

 C.M.A. = 23²
 = 529 C.M
 R = 10.4
 10.4 x 100’
 529

 = 1.96
 Example #22

 What is the resistance of a copper wire ¼” in diameter

and 200’ in length ?

 Step 1) change to a decimal fraction

 Step 2) change to mils
 Step 3) change to C.M.A.
 Step 4) find resistance of material
Solution
 Example #23

 What is the resistance of a copper wire 3/8” in

diameter and 150’ in length ?

 Step 1) change to a decimal fraction

 Step 2) change to mils
 Step 3) change to C.M.A.
 Step 4) find resistance of ma
 Solution

 3/8” = 0.375”
 0.375” = 375 mils
 C.M.A. = d²
 = 375²
 = 140,625 C.M.
 Solution cont.

 10.4 x 150
 140,625

 = 0.011
 The most common metals used for electrical conductors
are copper and aluminum. Copper has almost half the
resistance per mil foot than that of Aluminum. The
resistance of Copper is 61.2% that of Aluminum or
Aluminum is 1.635 times greater than that of Copper.
This means that the cross sectional area of Aluminum
conductors must be enlarged 1.635 times that of copper
to have the same resistance.