Skin Depth Calculator
Calculate the electromagnetic skin depth δ and surface resistance for common conductor materials.
What is Skin Depth?
At high frequencies, electricity doesn't flow through the entire cross-section of a wire — it flows only through a thin outer "skin," like a river flowing fastest at the surface. The higher the frequency, the thinner this skin gets, so only the surface of the conductor carries the current.
Why it matters: Microwave cables are often silver-plated because at high frequencies only the surface matters — silver has better conductivity than copper, reducing signal loss. At 10 GHz, the skin depth in copper is less than 1 micron.