Electrical cables are something you’ll need to be familiar with as you’re going to have to buy them. There are several types of electrical cables with different purposes. Continue reading this guide to understand the various kinds of cables available on the market.
What is an electrical cable?
The cable used for transmitting and distributing electrical power is called an electrical power cable. It’s used instead of overhead lines in order to transmit high voltages where the latter are an impractical choice. This cable has three main components: conductor, dielectric, and sheath.
The conductor provides the path for the current inside the cable. The dielectric, also known as insulation, isolates the live conductor. The sheath won’t let any moisture in and protects the cables from other external factors such as fire and chemical and electrochemical attacks.
Types of cables
Cables have several applications and they all differ from each other. Their function depends on their type. Electrical ones are made of copper or aluminium wires and have an insulating coating made of synthetic polymers for protection. There are 5 types of cables depending on their purpose. They are the following:
Shielded
This category has one or two insulated wires, covered by a woven braided shield or aluminium Mylar foil. This helps with radio signal transmission, regulates power frequency, and eliminates any external interference. Such cables are protected by a shield because they transmit high voltage electric current.
Coaxial
This kind is used for audio-video networking as well as computer networking. Coaxial cables have steel or copper conductors that are plated with copper. The copper is situated inside the metallic tape and braid and it’s entirely covered by an insulated outer jacket.
Twisted pair
This type of cable has two or more insulated copper wires that are colour-coded and twisted with each other. Such wires are typically used for telephone cables. The number of wires determines the level of resistance to any external factors.
Ribbon
Ribbon cables have several insulated wires running parallel with one another. They’re used for transmitting multiple data at the same time. For instance, you can interconnect networking devices and connect the CPU with the motherboard.
Fibre optics
Fibre optics cables are the ones that transport optical data signals from the light source to the receiving device.
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