Why should a heating element have a high resistivity?

Answer: Higher resistivity allows you to select a smaller length for a given resistance. The wire that a heating resistance is made of has to be robust enough to handle the rigours of heating to a high temperature.

Does heating elements have high resistance?

Heating elements don’t have a high resistance: for example a 1kW 220v heating element will have a resistance around 50 Ohms and a 2kW one will be about 25Ohms. If you’re in a country using 110V then a 2kW element will have a resistance of only 6.05 Ohms.

How does a heating element work?

A heating element converts electrical energy into heat through the process of resistive (otherwise known as Joule heating). The element converts the electrical energy passing through it into heat, which spawns outward in every direction.

What type of material is used in making heater coils with low or high specific resistance )?

Hence, the nichrome wire is used as a heating element because it has high specific resistance.

How does the resistance of the heating element in an electric heater change as it gets hotter?

As the heater gets hotter and hotter, it converts more electrical energy to thermal energy. To do so, it needs more resistance. Therefore, as the heater gets hotter, the resistance increases.

What is an electric heating element?

A heating element converts electrical energy into heat through the process of Joule heating. Electric current through the element encounters resistance, resulting in heating of the element. Unlike the Peltier effect, this process is independent of the direction of current.

What is heater element made of?

Heating coils are commonly made up of Nichrome, which is an alloy of Nickel (80\%) and Chromium (20\%). A heating element can be coil, ribbon or strip of wire. Nichrome has a high melting point and it won’t oxidise at higher temperatures.

What is the requirement of a good heating material in electric heating?

The heating element is subjected to very high-temperature ranges, so it must have the ability to withstand higher temperature ranges. Therefore, the heating element should have a high melting point. Therefore, high resistivity and high melting point are two essential requirements for a good heating element.