Physics
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 meant by electric current. In most materials, the direct current is proportional to the voltage (as determined by Ohm's law), provided the temperature remains constant and the material remains in the same shape and state.
Most familiar conductors are metallic. Copper is the most common material used for electrical wiring (see main article: Copper wire and cable). Silver is the best conductor, but it is expensive. Because gold does not corrode, it is used for high-quality surface-to-surface contacts. However, there are also many non-metallic conductors, including graphite, solutions of salts, and all plasmas. There are even conductive polymers. (See electrical conduction for more information on the physical mechanism for charge flow in materials).
All non-superconducting materials offer some resistance and warm up during electric currents. Proper design of an electrical conductor takes into account the temperature of the conductor as well as the value of electric current. The motion of charges creates an electromagnetic field around the conductor that exerts a mechanical radial squeezing force on the conductor. The current carrying capacity of a conductor is limited by its ability to dissipate heat. This effect is especially critical in printed circuits, where conductors are relatively small and close together, and inside an enclosure: the heat produced can melt the tracks.
Thermal and electrical conductivity often go together. For instance the sea of electrons causes most metals to act both as electrical and thermal conductors. However, some non-metallic materials are practical electrical conductors without being good thermal conductors.
Read more about this topic: Electrical Conductor
Famous quotes containing the word physics:
“... it is as true in morals as in physics that all force is imperishable; therefore the consequences of a human action never cease.”
—Tennessee Claflin (1846–1923)
“He who is conversant with the supernal powers will not worship these inferior deities of the wind, waves, tide, and sunshine. But we would not disparage the importance of such calculations as we have described. They are truths in physics because they are true in ethics.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“We must be physicists in order ... to be creative since so far codes of values and ideals have been constructed in ignorance of physics or even in contradiction to physics.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)