Question

PLEASE HELP!! At what temperature will silver have a resistivity that is four times the resistivity of tungsten at room temperature?

Answer 1

Consider 20 deg.C. as room temperature.

From tables,
Silver has a resistivity of  1.6*10^-8 ohm-m at 20 deg.C, and it increases by 0.0038 ohm-m per deg.K increase.
Therefore if the temperature rise above 20 deg.C is T, then silver will have resistivity of
1.6*10^-8(1 + 0.0038T) ohm-m

At room temperature, the resistivity of tungsten (from tables) is 5.6*10^-8.

The resistivity of silver will be 4 times that of tungsten (at room temperature) when
1.6*10^-8(1 + 0.0038T) = 4*5.6*10^-8
1 + 0.0038T = 14
T = 13/.0038 = 3421 deg.K approx

Answer: 20 + 3421 = 3441 °C