Skin Depth Calculator
Calculate the skin depth (penetration depth) of electromagnetic waves in a conductor at a given frequency.
Hz
S/m
Copper = 5.8e7, Aluminum = 3.77e7
1 for non-magnetic materials
Skin Depth
0.000066 m
Skin Depth0.0661 mm
Skin Depth66.1 µm
Skin Depth vs Frequency
What is Skin Depth?
Skin depth is the distance into a conductor at which the current density drops to 1/e (about 37%) of its surface value. At high frequencies, current flows mostly near the surface.
Formula
delta = 1 / sqrt(pi x f x mu x sigma)
Where f is frequency, mu is permeability (mu_0 x mu_r), and sigma is conductivity.
Practical Impact
Example Calculation
Copper conductor (sigma = 5.8e7 S/m, mu_r = 1) at 1 MHz.
- 01mu = 1 x 4pi x 10^-7 = 1.2566e-6 H/m
- 02delta = 1 / sqrt(pi x 1e6 x 1.2566e-6 x 5.8e7)
- 03= 1 / sqrt(229.37) = 1 / 15.15 = 0.0660 mm = 66.0 micrometers
Frequently Asked Questions
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