A couple respondents have pointed out that the electrical conductivity
of stainless steel is, in fact, not real high. I will corroborate this
with one more piece of information.
The typical "resistance wire" we use in wire-wound resistors and in
heaters is nichrome wire. The name, of course, indicates it is an
alloy with nickel and chromium content. That pretty much makes it
stainless steel. As has been pointed out, there are many formulations
for stainless steel; i.e. the term is fairly generic and covers a broad
range of steels formulated mostly with iron, nickel, and chromium.
Therefore, calling nichrome wire "stainless steel" is not
inappropriate.
Wires made of any of the stainless steels (such as 304 or 316) have a
lot higher resistance than similar-sized wires made of copper.
Michael D. Edmiston, Ph.D. Phone/voice-mail: 419-358-3270
Professor of Chemistry & Physics FAX: 419-358-3323
Chairman, Science Department E-Mail edmiston@bluffton.edu
Bluffton College
280 West College Avenue
Bluffton, OH 45817