Is silver a good conductor of electricty than copper or aluminium and if YES then why??
Is silver a good conductor of electricty than copper or aluminium and if YES then why??
The most electrically conductive element is silver, followed by copper and gold then aluminium. Silver also has the highest thermal conductivity of any element and the highest light reflectance. Although it is the best conductor, copper and gold are used more often in electrical applications because copper is less expensive and gold has a much higher corrosion resistance.
As to why silver is the best conductor, the answer is that its electrons are freer to move than those of the other elements. This has to do with its valence and crystal structure.
- Silver and Gold are transitional metals found in the same group 11 of the periodic table, so they share some characteristics. For one, they are curiously often found in their raw state in nature, which suggests they are chemically inactive -- hence the name 'noble metal'. This alone does not explain why, as Ag has the lowest chemical potential of all Noble metals
- Silver has an incomplete s-orbital that is one periodic ring higher than copper, requiring less activation energy than copper, as the energy hops are smaller the further you go from the nucleus. This alone does not explain why Au has poorer electro-thermal conductivity than both Ag & Cu
- Assuming that group 11 of the periodic table would be the optimum value where free electrons are maximised, in my naive interpretation it may be possible that Au has the average radii of its atoms larger than silver which would encourage the phonon transmission (vibration of the lattice, i.e. heat). Phonons do not contribute to the transmitted current.
Copper also forms Cupric oxide on the surface very quickly, and it is possible that many measurements of the copper's resistivity may be skewed by this effect. As much as 1nm deposition would change things.
The most electrically conductive element is silver, followed by copper and gold then aluminium. Silver also has the highest thermal conductivity of any element and the highest light reflectance. Although it is the best conductor, copper and gold are used more often in electrical applications because copper is less expensive and gold has a much higher corrosion resistance.
As to why silver is the best conductor, the answer is that its electrons are freer to move than those of the other elements. This has to do with its valence and crystal structure.
- Silver and Gold are transitional metals found in the same group 11 of the periodic table, so they share some characteristics. For one, they are curiously often found in their raw state in nature, which suggests they are chemically inactive -- hence the name 'noble metal'. This alone does not explain why, as Ag has the lowest chemical potential of all Noble metals
- Silver has an incomplete s-orbital that is one periodic ring higher than copper, requiring less activation energy than copper, as the energy hops are smaller the further you go from the nucleus. This alone does not explain why Au has poorer electro-thermal conductivity than both Ag & Cu
- Assuming that group 11 of the periodic table would be the optimum value where free electrons are maximised, in my naive interpretation it may be possible that Au has the average radii of its atoms larger than silver which would encourage the phonon transmission (vibration of the lattice, i.e. heat). Phonons do not contribute to the transmitted current.
Copper also forms Cupric oxide on the surface very quickly, and it is possible that many measurements of the copper's resistivity may be skewed by this effect. As much as 1nm deposition would change things.
