For two conductors with identical cross-sectional area, one solid and one stranded, the DC resistance will be:

• A. Significantly higher in solid
• B. About the same
• C. Significantly higher in stranded
• D. Dependent on insulation type

Answer: (B)

DC resistance is set by the material’s resistivity, the length, and the total cross-sectional area of conducting material, not by whether the conductor is solid or made of strands. For identical cross-sectional area and the same material, a stranded conductor simply bundles multiple strands in parallel. The current splits among the strands, so the overall resistance becomes R = ρL/A_total, exactly the same as a solid conductor with that total area. In practice, this holds well because the strands are designed to be well connected along the length; any extra contact resistance between strands is typically negligible at DC. Insulation type doesn’t affect DC resistance either. So the DC resistance is about the same.