Red Hot Nickel Cable · Physics Brawl 2019 #FoL.22

Physics · thermodynamics

Problem

A heater has a nickel heating filament with a temperature coefficient of resistance α=0.0068\alpha = 0.0068 K⁻¹ and with a resistance R0=80R_0 = 80 Ω at the room temperature T0=293T_0 = 293 K. After turning on the heater, the filament becomes red-hot at the temperature T=1100T = 1100 K thanks to a current I=2I = 2 A passing through it. What is the total surface of the filament (in m²), assuming that the filament transfers heat only by radiation (acts as a black body)?

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