Even though silver is a better electrical conductor than copper, most electrical cables are made from copper.

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Even though silver is a better electrical conductor than copper, most electrical cables are made from copper. The main reason is cost: The per-kilogram price of silver is about 100 times the per-kilogram price of copper. If you want a length \(\ell\) of wire to have a resistance \(R\), by what factor does the cost of silver exceed that of copper? (The mass density of silver is \(ho_{\mathrm{S}}=10,490 \mathrm{~kg} / \mathrm{m}^{3}\), and that of copper is \(ho_{\mathrm{C}}=8960 \mathrm{~kg} / \mathrm{m}^{3}\).)

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