What is Electrical Conductor? Explain in detail

In electrical engineering, a conductor is an object or material that will allows electricity flow through it. The current supply may go in one or more directions. Most electrical conductors are made from objects that can be made from common metals.

Electric current can be made by the flow of electrons, holes, and, in some cases, positive or negative ions. In metals, electrons do most of the work, but positive charge carriers move cationic electrolytes in batteries.

In the same way, positive charge carriers are needed for the mobile protons in the proton conductor of a fuel cell. This post gives a general outline of an electrical conductor, including its types and properties.

What is Electrical Conductor?

Electrical conductor is defined in electrical engineering as an object (or) type of material that allows charge to flow in one or more directions. Metals are common electrical conductors due to their high conductance & low resistance.

Electrical conductors allow the electrons to flow with drift velocity between the atoms of a material in the conduction band. Metals, metal alloys, electrolytes, and nonmetals such as graphite and conductive polymers can all be used as electrical conductors.

These materials allow the electricity (the flow of charge) to easily pass through them.

How Does Electron flow in an Electrical Conductor?

As a result of the electrons’ drift velocity, the flow of electrons through the conductor is not in the straight line. Therefore, the flow of electrons through the conductor will be constantly disrupted by the atoms that make up the conductor.

Its velocity is rather low as a consequence of the presence of a great number of unbound electrons. It is able to gauge drift velocity for a given current by estimating the density of electrons in a conductor.

For a current with a known value, a low velocity is required whenever the density is increased. The electric field, symbolised by the letter ‘E,’ acts in opposition to the flow of electrons through the conductor.

How does a conductor allow current to flow through it?

It is essential for the material that comprises up an electrical conductor particle to have no energy gaps between different bands, such as valence and conduction. In the valence band, the exterior electrons have a tenuous connection to the atom they are associated with.

Once electrons have been energised, either by the thermal effect or the electromotive force, it travels from one band to another in the spectrum.

As an electron enters the conduction band, it is given the ability to freely move across the conductor without being restricted. Atoms are used to form the conductor’s shape. Because of this, the band as a whole is composed of a significant number of electrons.

Because positive metal ions make up the structure of conductors, metallic bonding can be found inside of them. These structures are protected by an electron cloud all the way around.

Once there is a difference in potential between the conductor’s two ends, electrons are able to collect sufficient energy to supply increased energy in this band against the minute resistance provided by the conductor material.

This occurs once there is a potential disparity in the conductor. The flow of electrons will go in one direction, while the current will flow in the opposite direction.

Properties of the Electrical Conductor

• The free mobility of electrons and ions is one of the essential characteristics of a conductor.
• To ensure that electrons and ions are able to pass freely through a conductor, the conductor’s internal electric field must be completely neutral.
• Because both positive & negative charges are cancelled out within a conductor, the charge density is equal to zero inside of a conductor.
• Due to the absence of charge within the conductor, it is only possible for free charges to exist on the exterior of the conductor.
• The electric field can be described as having a direction that is perpendicular to the surface of the conductor.

Types of the Electrical Conductors

Conductors are classified into the following categories.

Based on Conductors

1). Ohmic Conductors

2). Non-Ohmic Conductors

3). Ionic Conductors

4). Semiconductors

1).Ohmic Conductors

Conductors of this type always follow Ohm’s Law, which states that the relationship between voltage and current should be a straight line.

Ex: Aluminium, Silver, Copper, Gold etc.

These above materials are with the highest conductivity, and it is employed in practical applications.

For example, the electric wire that is used all around house most likely uses copper wire as a conducting material. Electric plugs are made of metal, and the internal components of electric irons include metals that function as conducting material.

This is because that metal contains an abundance of free electrons and promotes mobility

2). Non-Ohmic Conductors

This type of conductors never complies with Ohm’s Law (V ∝ I), and the resulting graph of V vs I is a nonlinear graph rather than a straight line.

Ex: Light Dependent Resistor (LDR), a Diode, the Filament of a Bulb, and Several Thermistors.

3).   Ionic Conductors

Ionic conductors are the term given to the form of conductors that are found in solutions. Due to the reason that they are effective electricity conductors.

Seawater and Saltwater are the perfect example of these types of conductors.

4). Semiconductors

Although semiconductors are not as good as conductors at moving electric current, their use is widespread because of their other desirable properties.

The elements Germanium-Ge and Silicon-Si are the most common types of semiconductors.

Based on Conductivity Medium

1). Solid Conductors

2).Liquid Conductors

1). Solid Conductors

• Conductors made of metals such as silver, copper, aluminium, gold, and others.
• Conductors made of metals of a non-metallic conductor such as graphite
• Conductors made of alloys, such as brass, bronze, etc.

2).Liquid Conductors

• Conductors that are not made of metal, such as acid solutions, salt water, etc.
• Mercury is a metallic conductor that conduct electricity.

Nature of Conductors

• Copper conductor is the most commonly used material in electrical wiring.
• For high-quality surface-to-surface contacts, gold conductor is used.
• On the Conductors list, silver is the best conductor.
• Although impure water (seawater and saltwater) is on the Conductor List, it has lower conductivity.

What is Electric Conductivity?

The term “electric conductivity” refers to the ease with which electrons can move around inside of a material. The types of atoms present in a material (the number of protons in the nucleus of each atom, which determines the chemical identity of the atom) and the ways in which those atoms are connected to one another are the primary factors that influence conductivity.

What is a conductor’s charge while carrying electricity?

A current-carrying conductor has no charge at any time. This is because the number of electrons (at the drift velocity) in this conductor is always equal to the number of protons. As a result, the net charge is 0.

Assume a conductor is connected across the battery, connecting the positive and negative ends with a conductor. Electrons now flow through the conductor from battery’s negative end to its positive end.

This electron flow is possible until the battery has the ability to produce EMF through the chemical reaction inside.

Is a conductor charged positively or negatively?

Consider the conductor to be the medium through which the charges can be transferred from one electrode of the battery to another.

The electrons leave the negative side of the battery and enter the conductor’s conduction band, where there are already a plenty valence electrons of conductor atoms available.

The free electrons start their flow from atom to atom in the conduction band in drift motion – towards the positive electrode of the battery.

At any given time, each atom has 0 charge because drift electrons from the adjacent atoms fill its valence band electron gaps, which occurs continuously, i.e. the total number of electrons in the conductor is equal to the total number of protons in the conductor at any given time.

The rate of change of charge (q) with respect to the time (t) is known as current (I),

I=dq/dt

This charge change rate with respect to the time occurs. According to convention, current flows in the opposite direction as electron flow.

When the conductor is removed from the battery, it no longer contains any charged particles, but EMF remains existent across the battery electrodes with positive & negative polarity and no electron flow.

The Effect of Temperature on the Conductor

The more the temperature affects the conductor, the more vibration occurs in the molecule.

This creates an impediment in the path of the electrons, preventing them from moving freely through the conductor. There is a linear relationship between conductivity and temperature.

Again, an increase in temperature causes the conductor’s molecular connections to break, allowing for the release of electrons.

The total number of these electrons is lower. The overall resistance of the conductor to the wandering electron rises as the temperature increases.

Does the length of a conductor have any effect on how current flows through it?

When the conductor is in its equilibrium state, there is no difference in the potential or the electric field within the conductor.

Electrons are forced to go through a state of vibration along the whole length of a conductor whenever a potential difference is applied along its length.

Every conductor presents some level of opposition to the flow of electric current. The length of a conductor has a significant impact on this resistance, which is directly proportionate to its length.

The resistance that is offered up to the passage of current will increase proportionally with the length of a conductor.

Transmission Line Conductors

Consequently, power transmission conductor is usually stranded. These conductors are more flexible and strong than a single wire of a similar cross-section. These conductors usually encircle the central wire. The copper cross-section region, number of strings, and string diameter determine the conductor size.