TO CONDUCT OR NOT TO CONDUCT....
WHAT IS CONDUCTIVITY?
'This is wonderfully illustrated by this 'wheel of conductive and non-conductive materials'.
Well conductivity measures a material's ability to conduct an electric current.
HOW IT WORKS?
First I guess we have to understand what electrical resistivity (also known as resistivity, specific electrical resistance, or volume resistivity) is.It's a measure of how strongly a material opposes the flow of electric current .
A conductor such as a metal has high conductivity and a low resistivity.
An insulator like glass has low conductivity and a high resistivity.
The conductivity of a semiconductor is generally intermediate, but varies widely under
different conditions, such as exposure of the material to electric fields or specific frequencies of
light , and, most important, with temperature and composition of the semiconductor material.
IF YOU WANNA GET ALL PHYSICAL.
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- ρ is the static resistivity (measured in ohm-metres, Ω-m)
- E is the magnitude of the electric field (measured in volts per metre, V/m);
- J is the magnitude of the current density (measured in amperes per square metre, A/m²).
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take a look at the phet site for some fun in the sun with conductivity
