What makes conductors conduct electricity

Iron has two valence electrons. Even though Aluminum has three valence electrons, it is an excellent conductor as well. A semiconductor is a material that has four valence electrons. Metallic bonding causes metals to conduct electricity. This moving sea of electrons enables the metal to conduct electricity and move freely among the ions. Most metals conduct electricity to a certain extent. Some metals are more highly conductive than others. Copper, silver, aluminum, gold, steel, and brass are common conductors of electricity.

The most highly conductive metals are silver, copper, and gold. This list of electric conductivity includes alloys as well as pure elements. Because the size and shape of a substance affect its conductivity, the list assumes all samples are the same size Here is the basic types of metals and some common alloys in order of descending conductive relationship as shared by Metal Detecting World.

For a material to be a good conductor, the electricity passed through it must be able to move the electrons; the more free electrons in a metal, the greater its conductivity. Most wires are copper-plated and electromagnet cores are normally wrapped with copper wire. Individual properties make it ideal for specific purposes. Aluminum can conduct electricity but it does not conduct electricity as well as copper. Aluminum forms an electrically resistant oxide surface in electrical connections, which can cause the connection to overheat.

High-voltage transmission lines which are encased in steel for additional protection use aluminum. Consequently, the difference in energy between them becomes very small. Thus, in solids the levels form continuous bands of energy rather than the discrete energy levels of the atoms in isolation.

However, some intervals of energy contain no orbitals, forming band gaps. This concept becomes more important in the context of semi-conductors and insulators. All conductors contain electrical charges, which will move when an electric potential difference measured in volts is applied across separate points on the material. This flow of charge measured in amperes is what is referred to as electric current.

Most familiar conductors are metallic. Copper is the most common material used for electrical wiring. Silver is the best conductor, but it is expensive. So conductivity is basically just how many electrons can squeeze through the wire in a given amount of time.

Usually, if engineers can change the conductivity of something, they are changing , the mobility of electrons. For example, grain boundaries can scatter electrons, reducing the speed they travel through the wire. Precipitates and alloying elements reduce conductivity for the same reason. The opposite of conductivity is resistivity or resistance. Resistivity is the intrinsic version of resistance. As in metals, increasing temperature decreases.

But in semiconductors, higher thermal energy means more electrons can pass from the valence band to the conduction band. So while mu decreases slightly, n increases a lot!

In fact, mobility is so important to resistance that at absolute zero, when lattice vibrations cease and electrons can pass through a metal unimpeded, metals can become superconductors.

Shape is probably what you learned in high school, regarding conductivity. Especially because increased resistance can change the temperature, which can affect resistivity. And, in a perfect crystal at absolute zero, atom vibrations cease and metals become superconducting. For a similar reason as temperature, increasing impurity atoms reduces conductivity because it decreases the electron mobility.

When alloying elements in solid solution, the base metal element forms a lattice structure. Most of the atoms in the lattice are the same kind, but in alloys, there are additional elements that can replace the base element this is called a substitutional solid solution.

Since these other elements are a different size than the base element, they strain the lattice, decreasing conductivity.

The P-N Junction. The Junction sandwich Transistor. The First Silicon Transistor. Recreating the First Transistor. Conduction Insulators, conductors, semiconductors, and superconductors. Conduction Insulators, conductors, semiconductors, and superconductors Every material in the world can be defined in terms of how well it conducts electricity. Certain things, such as cold glass, never conduct electricity. They're known as insulators.

Materials which do conduct electricity, like copper, are called conductors. In the middle are materials known as semiconductors, which don't conduct as well as conductors, but can carry current. Last, are materials called superconductors, which when brought down to very low temperatures turn into superhighways of current -- they conduct electricity without any resistance whatsoever.

All these different materials are made of atoms that look basically alike: a nucleus with electrons circling around them.