Barn To Circular Mil Calculator
Use our online Barn to Circular Mil area conversion calculator to easily and quickly make the conversion. A barn, a unit of area used in nuclear physics, is completely different from circular mils, a standard unit in engineering to measure wire’s sections. This tool helps to overcome this division and delivers conversions that are direct, accurate, and immediate. Just input the value in barns, and then the application will convert the value to circular mil equivalent. Appropriate for scientists, engineers, and students, this tool provides accurate results in both theoretical and applied sciences. Spend less time on computations for difficult equations and make them as easy as pie!
Convert Barn To Circular Mil
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Definition of the Barn
The barn is a unit of area used in nuclear physics to measure the amount of surface that two particles may interact, for example, neutrons colliding with atomic nuclei.
- 1 barn is defined as
10⁻²⁸
square meters. - This is perhaps the reason for choosing the name 'barn' - a playful reference to the saying 'hit the broad side of a barn'; Indeed, relative to the questions addressed in nuclear physics, this cross-sectional area might appear to be rather broad.
The barn is much too small to be relevant in macroscopic measurements, such as land or real estate.
Barn Historical
The barn was first developed in the early 1940s in the Manhattan Project. Nuclear fission researchers seeking to design cross-sectional areas of nuclei engaged in nuclear reactions required convenient geometry to use.
The term barn was proposed by professors of physics M.G. Holloway and R. Harvey who strived to have this unit have a simple name easy to memorize. While it was rather funny that the concept of a barn arose from bomb-making, it didn't take long for it to be adopted in nuclear physics because it made practical sense.
Conversion to Other Units
Since the barn is used in nuclear physics, its conversions relate to extremely small areas. For comparison:
1
barn = 10⁻²⁸
square meters1
barn = 10⁻²⁴
square centimeters1
barn ≈ 1.076 × 10⁻²⁷
square feet1
barn ≈ 1.196 × 10⁻²⁷
square yardsThese values highlight the incredibly small scale of the barn compared to everyday units of area.
Uses of the Barn Today
The barn remains an essential unit in nuclear physics and particle physics, particularly in the study of:
- Fusion and Fission Research: Understanding the interaction of particles in nuclear reactors and fusion experiments.
- Nuclear Reactions: Describing the probability of interactions between particles like neutrons, protons, and nuclei.
- Particle Scattering: Quantifying the cross-sectional areas of particles in accelerators and reactors.
- Astrophysics: Used in studies involving cosmic particles and their interactions with matter.
Definition of the Circular Mil
A circular mil represents the area of a circle with a diameter of one mil, where:
1
mil = 1/1000
inch (0.001
inch).- However, in the circular mil system, the area of a circle with a 1-mil diameter is defined as exactly
1
circular mil, bypassing the need for π in the calculation.
Circular Mil Historical
The circular mil was adopted to supplement the well-established standard as a unit of measure for the cross-sectional area of circuit conductors, especially wires and cables. It came into existence at the time of the formation of modern electrical systems in the 19th and 20th centuries when engineers needed a manner to measure cross-sectional areas of wires and their electrical performance.
Due to its simple concept, it was accepted on a large scale in the electrical industry most notably in North America where it forms part of the wire gauge numbering system.
Conversion to Other Units
The circular mil is a small unit of area, and its conversions include:
1
circular mil = 7.854 × 10⁻⁷
square inches1
circular mil ≈ 5.067 × 10⁻⁶
square centimeters1
circular mil ≈ 7.297 × 10⁻¹⁰
square feet1
square inch = 1,273,239
circular mils
Use in Measurement Today
The circular mil remains a critical unit in the electrical and engineering industries, particularly for:
- Electrical Conductors: Applied for definition of the cross-sectional area of wires and cables. Crucial in calculating the current capability of a given wire, its opposition to the stream of current and voltage drop.
- Wire Sizing Standards: Often encountered in the American Wire Gauge (AWG) system used for measuring wire areas in circular mils.
- High-Voltage Systems: Used mainly in construction of high voltage transmission cables.
- Safety and Regulation: Ensures that electrical installations will operate at the design load by avoiding such features like overheating or voltage drop.
Comparison to Land Measurement Units
The circular mil is not even remotely connected to any sort of geographical or plotted area as is the case with the area units like acre or square feet, or to agriculture or real estate. Its use is limited to areas comprising small regions associated with electrical and mechanical systems.
- Land Measurement Units: 1. Designed for large areas like fields acre may be used or when measuring building spaces may use square feet. 2.On the other hand, the circular mil measures small parts of the area that could support electrical conductors.
Notable Uses
- Electrical Engineering: If a wire has a cross-sectional area of
1000
circular mils it is called kcmil or thousand circular mils used in large cables. - Telecommunications: Formerly applied to compute the resistance and capacitance respective of the wires involved in communication systems.
- Industrial Applications: Is involved in designing of motors windings, transformers and any electric devices.