In 1887 Edward Weston discovered that metals can have a negative temperature coefficient of resistance, inventing what he called his "Alloy No. 2." It was produced in Germany where it was renamed "Constantan".4 In 1888 he patented5 "an alloy containing from 65 to 70 parts of copper, 25 to 30 parts of ferro-manganese, and 2.5 to 10 parts of nickel" which had a nearly constant resistivity.
Manganin wire as we know it was developed by Weston's assistant John Forrest Kelly.6 In May 1893, Weston received a patent for the material and its use for resistors. While Manganin represented a significant advance in technology -- the material was a conductive metal with constant resistance over a wide range of working temperatures, Weston did not receive wide recognition at the time.7
Electrical Properties
Mechanical Properties
"Goodfellow Technical Information Manganin® - Resistance Alloy". www.goodfellow.com. Retrieved 2016-09-11. http://www.goodfellow.com/catalogue/GFCat2H.php?ewd_token=09GRBJvlw6lL5lDbZC1qWnos3v9ad5&n=kCvbg9HE4EQs6Xg56ttKPuupoT1SdP&ewd_urlNo=GFCat2L3&Head=CU06 ↩
"Stability of Double-Walled Manganin Resistors" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2024-09-30. Retrieved 2007-04-30. https://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/sp958-lide/063-065.pdf ↩
"Special Use Sensors - Manganin Pressure Sensor" (PDF). web.sensor-ic.com. Vishay. Retrieved 15 April 2023.[permanent dead link] http://web.sensor-ic.com:8000/ZLXIAZAI/VISHAY/thumb_2011032859967085.pdf ↩
National Electrical Manufacturers Association (1946). A chronological history of electrical development from 600 B.C. New York, N.Y., National Electrical Manufacturers Association. https://archive.org/details/chronologicalhis00natirich ↩
U.S. patent 381304A https://patents.google.com/patent/US381304A ↩
Fessenden, Reginald A. (1893-07-21). "Electrical Notes". Science. ns-22 (546): 35–36. doi:10.1126/science.ns-22.546.35. ISSN 0036-8075. https://books.google.com/books?id=wdlCTzYLf2kC&pg=RA1-PA36 ↩
Woodbury, David O. (1949). A Measure for Greatness; A Short Biography of Edward Weston. New York, Toronto, London: McGraw-Hill. https://archive.org/details/measureforgreatn001419mbp ↩
CRC Handbook 27th ed. Feb 1943. p. 1875. ↩
CRC Handbook 27th ed. Feb 1943. p. 2485. ↩