We have created an experimental procedure for determining the temperature coefficient of resistivity, αR, for introductory physics laboratories. As in the procedure from Henry, this method examines the relationship between temperature and resistivity to establish αR within 10% of the accepted value.

1.
D.
Henry
, “
Resistance of a wire as a function of temperature
,”
Phys. Teach.
33
,
96
97
(
1995
).
2.
Precision Brand music wire (0.016-in. diameter)
; UPC No. 21016.
3.
TelaTemp reversible liquid crystal thermometer strip model 416-2 (14−31 °C) and 416-3 (32−49 °C).
4.
S.
Yafei
,
N.
Dongjie
, and
S.
Jing
, “
Temperature and carbon content dependence of electrical resistivity of carbon steel
,”
4th IEEE Conference on Industrial Electronics and Applications
,
368
372
(
2009
).
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