2.

Conducting Materials

Definition of conductor:
A conductor is a material which permits a flow of energy. A material which allows the flow of
charged particles is an electrical conductor. A material which allows the transfer of thermal
energy is a thermal conductor or heat conductor.

Examples of a conductor :

1. Gold ,silver, copper, mercury, in fact most metals are conductors.

2. Silver is a element which is a best electrical conductor encountered in every life.

2) Energy Band diagrams for a conductors :

Conduction band :

IN electron orbit or orbital’s generally the outer most orbital’s in atoms in a conductor or
semiconductor or semiconductor in which the electrons are free enough to move , this band is
called as a conduction band .

Valence Band: In solids the valence band is the highest range of electrons energies in which
the electron are normally present at absolute zero temperature.

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 Forbidden gap or Energy gap :
This is the band which can be separating conduction and valence bands in the solids there is a
no electron energy levels are allowed in the forbidden band , there is a No Energy gap in metals

3) Equation of motion of an electron

3.1) Path of Electron in Magnetic field or equation of motion of

Electron in Magnetic field:

The force (F) on wire of length (L ) carrying a current (I) in a magnetic field of strength B is
given by the equation:
F = BIL……………..(1)
Force of an electron is taken as

Q = It and since Q = e for an electron and v = L/t you can show that :
Magnetic force on an electron = BIL = B[e/t][vt] = Bev
where v = is the electron velocity

Figure 2 shows a 3D
diagram of and electron
moving at right angles to a
uniform magnetic field.

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1) Charged particles move in circles at a constant speed if projected into a magnetic field at right

Angle to the field with respect to this magnetic field the motion of electron is perpendicular to

this magnetic field.

2) Charged particles move in straight lines at a constant speed if the electron is projected into a

Magnetic field, then the resulting path of that electron is HELICAL path or HELICAL

Structure.

3.2) Path of Electron in Electrical field or equation of motion of

Electron in electric field:

We will consider the next case of an electron entering a uniform electric field between two
parallel plates (Figure 4). The potential difference between the plates is V and the plates are
aligned along the x direction and the electron enters the field at right angles to the field lines:
The force on the electron is given by the equation:

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 F = eE
= eV/d
F = ma………….(1)

E = electric filed

But since there is a force the electron must accelerate in the y direction and the acceleration
.(2)
is given by a = 2y/t2…………… . (From the equation s = y = ut + ½ at2)

ut =0 ; initial velocity is consider as a ‘0’

equation 2 substituting in equation 1 we get
and velocity v= x/t
x=vt
t=x\v
taking inverse
1/t =v/x

Squaring on both sides

1/ =

Equation 2 substituting in equation 1 we get

eV/d = m2y/t2 = 2myv2/x2 [ since 1/ = ]

re arranging the above equation :

y = [eV/2dmv2]x2

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 1)
This is the equation of a parabola since for a given electron velocity y is
proportional to x2
2) Charged particles move in parabolas if projected into an electric field in a direction at right
Angles to the field.
Charged particles move in straight lines and accelerate (or decelerate) if projected into an
3)
electric field along the direction of the field.

Drudel Model:
The Drude model of electrical conduction was proposed in 1900. by Daudet explain the
transport properties of electrons in materials (especially metals). The model, which is an
application of kinetic,, assumes that the microscopic behavior of electrons in a solid may be
treated classically
lly and looks much like a pinball machine, with a sea of constantly jittering
electrons bouncing and re-bouncing
bouncing off heavier.

In the Drude theory of conduction, the initial hypothesis consists of a solid, which contains
mobile charges which are free to move about under the influence of an applied electric field.
There are also fixed charges of polarity opposite that of the mobile charges, so that everywhere
within the solid, the net charge
rge density is zero

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 Figure 1: Model of a conductor.

As shown in Figure 1, the model of the conductor consists of a number of mobile

positive charges (represented by the balls with the "+" sign in them) and an equal number of
fixed negative charges (represented by the bare "-" sign). In subsequent figures, we will leave out
the fixed charge, since it can not contribute in any way to the conduction process, but keep in
mind that it is there, and that the total net charge is zero.

Figure 2: Applying a potential to a conductor

In order to have some conduction, we have to apply a potential or voltage across the sample
(Figure 2). We do this with a battery, which creates a potential difference between one end of
the sample and the other. We will make the simplest assumption that we can, and say that the
voltage gives rise to a uniform electric field within the sample.

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 Fermi-Dirac distribution function and the Fermi energy of metals:

In quantum statistics, a branch of physics, Fermi–Dirac statistics describes

distribution of particles in certain systems comprising many identical particles that obey
the Pauli exclusion principle. (No two electrons in an atom can have
identical quantum numbers.)

The distribution function has a normalization term multiplying the exponential in the
denominator which may be Temperature dependent. For the Fermi-Dirac function ,
that term is usually written:

The above Equation is Explains according to Pauli exclusion principle

F(E)= probability of a particle will have energy E

Influence of frequency on conductivity:

Conductivity is depends on the conducting path of the material which is a
Resistive , inductive , capacitive nature , but there is no effect frequency on
resistive nature but in inductor the equation is flows like
V=I
=2πf ( frequency )

I=

Conductivity is inversely proportional relation ship

In capacitor

V=

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I=V
Here the conductivity is proportional relationship with frequency .
Resistivity of conductor materials:

There are three External factors that influence the resistance in a conductor. Thickness
Cross sectional Area of the wire), length, and temperature all have some effect on the amount of
resistance created in a conductor.

If you were to create a formula that related cross sectional area, length, and electrical
conductivity (resistivity) to the resistance of the wire is given by

R=

R is the Resistance of the conductor in Ohms

A is the cross sectional area in m2
L is the length of the wire in meters
is the resistivity of the material in Ohm(meters).

 if you double the length of a wire, you will double the resistance of the wire.
 if you double the cross sectional area of a wire you will cut its resistance in half.

Factors, which change the resistivity of conducting materials:

(1) Temperature- The electrical resistance of most metals increases with increase of
temperature ..
(2 )Alloying- Alloying is another factor, which affects the resistivity of a material. By the
addition of some impurity to a metal, its resistivity can be changed. Alloys have
higher resistivity than that of pure metal.
(3) Mechanical stressing-When a material undergoes a mechanical treatment, its resistivity
changes due to mechanical distortion of the crystal structure.

(4) Age Hardening- Age hardening increases the resistivity of an alloy.

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Thermal conductivity of conductors:
In physics, thermal conductivity is the property of a material to conduct heat. It is
denoted as k,or λ.
A measure of the ability of a material to transfer heat. Given two surfaces on either side
of the material with a temperature difference between them, the thermal conductivity is the heat
energy transferred per unit time and per unit surface area, divided by the temperature difference.
It is measured in watts per degree Kelvin.
Best thermo conductors are materials that are made up of materials with high thermal
conductivities, for example, metals such as diamond and corbon nano tubes . These like
materials have a high thermal conductivity , because, they have very strong molecular bonds,
Example:
(1 ) A cold cast iron skillet is placed onto a stovetop. When the stove is turned on, the skillet
becomes very hot due to the conduction of heat from the burner to the skillet.

(2) A cube of ice is placed into the hand of a man. Over time, heat conducted from the
man’s hand to the ice cube will cause the ice to melt.

Classification and application:

There are several types of conductors are used depends upon the different
types of applications
Water
Aluminum
Zinc
Iron, Copper, Silver, Lead, Mercury, Gold.
Aluminum Conductors are again classified as a
(1) Aluminium Conductor (AAC)
(2) All Aluminium Alloy Conductor (AAAC)
(3) Aluminium Conductor Steel Reinforced (ACSR).

These are also know as a Overhead Conductors, Transmission Conductors and, Power distribution
Conductors.

(1) For 36 kV transmission and above both aluminum conductor steel reinforced (ACSR) and
all aluminum alloy conductor (AAAC) may be considered.

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