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Im writing a high school thesis on electrical conductivity and I need to know what influences resistivity/conductivity. I want to go more in depth than Ohm's law. I know length influences the resistance because of electrons colliding with more atoms/ions and losing energy. Same goes for temperature. Atoms/ions moving slower making it easier for the electron to travel. Most basic stuff.

I want to know where to find more in-depth information. Does ionization energy of different materials influence resistance? Can i research stuff about the orbitals of atoms and does that influence electrical conductivity. About different materials like why does silver conduct better than copper? for example that silver loses it's valence elektrons more easily.

Please give me any information on what I can research. What topics to research specifically and links would be appreciated.

Qmechanic
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Sem Hovelmann
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2 Answers2

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Various models have been developed to explain electric conductivity. I think for your case, it would be best to look at the Drude model. It is the historically earliest and the simplest model of conductivity, and it predicts the conductivity of metals reasonably well. I would suggest you limit your research to DC (direct current) conductivity. AC (alternating current) adds a lot of mathematical difficulty to the story.

The classic resource for everything about solid state physics is Solid State Physics by Ashcroft and Mermin, which is available online on archive.org. While it might look a bit intimidating with its dense text, I think it is reasonably understandable. For the introduction to the DC Drude model, you just need the first 10 pages. Then in chapter 3, the shortcomings of the Drude model are discussed.

If you find you dont't like it, there are also many other resources, you can find a lot online. Basically all books or lecture notes on introductory solid state physics will contain a chapter about the Drude model.

David_h
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Veritasium made a well known but confusing video about how electricity is carried in a circuit. The big misconception about electricity The misconception is that electrons carry potential energy around a complete conducting loop, transferring their energy to the load. Instead, it is carried by electric fields around a wire.

Many people made videos to clarify things, including Veritasium. How Electricity Actually Works

Here is another by Alpha Phoenix. I bought 1000 meters of wire to settle a physics debate. This one might also be of interest. Watch electricity hit a fork in the road at half a billion frames per second

You can find more at this site. Alternate explanation for energy flow in electricity as explained in this video

The problem is that these tell you haw electricity works. But they don't tell you much about resistance.

mmesser314
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