(A) We can solve the problem by using Ohm's law, which states:
where
V is the potential difference across the electrical device
I is the current through the device
R is its resistance
For the heater coil in the problem, we know
and
, therefore we can rearrange Ohm's law to find the current through the device:
(B) The resistance of a conductive wire depends on three factors. In fact, it is given by:
where
is the resistivity of the material of the wire
L is the length of the wire
A is the cross-sectional area of the wire
Basically, we see that the longer the wire, the larger its resistance; and the larger the section of the wire, the smaller its resistance.