• Question: If copper is a good conductor of heat and electricity, why are other metals not?

    Asked by Eloise to Adrian, Gaia, Jim, Scott, Vicky on 14 Mar 2016.
    • Photo: Adrian Buzatu

      Adrian Buzatu answered on 14 Mar 2016:

      http://www.instantanswer.org/why-is-copper-a-good-conductor_1513.html

    • Photo: Scott Lawrie

      Scott Lawrie answered on 14 Mar 2016:

      Compared to insulating things like plastic, wood and air, all metals are VERY good conductors! For example the highest conductance metals (silver and copper) are about 60 times better than the worst (stainless steel and mercury); but all metals are billions, trillions and many more ‘illions better at conducting heat and electricity than insulators!

      The (relatively) small differences in conductance are basically due to different binding energies (or, more correctly, the ‘band structure’) of electrons in the atoms, and the likelihood of a free electron colliding with an atom in the metal, rather than carrying on. Copper and Silver give up their electrons easily and are less likely to get in the way of free-flowing electrons.

      Does that make sense? 🙂

    • Photo: Jim Barrett

      Jim Barrett answered on 14 Mar 2016:

      Conductivity is quite a difficult thing to explain actually, and it takes a lot of physics to get a god understanding (I’m still not sure I do!).

      It basically comes down to how the electrons like to sit around the atoms in a material.

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