[Mike Betts]

Originally Posted by greatman05

And, what is larger? Is 20 AWG bigger than 18 AWG, or is 16 AWG bigger than 18 AWG?

AWG stands for American Wire Gauge and 20 AWG is smaller than 18 AWG which is smaller than 16 AWG.

A Simplified Historical Note:

These numbers go back to when raw wire had a single standard size and the AWG number refers to how many times the wire was machine drawn (becoming smaller in circumference each time).

Different machines had different effects on the wire being drawn. When coupled with the introduction of stranded wire, the AWG standard was established defining the circumference of solid wire and the equivalent cross sectional area of stranded wire.

Read more about it.

Regards,

Mike