What family of metals is best at conducting?

Answer 1

Assuming you are talking about conduction electricity and not heat, niobium and other superconducting alloys are the best but only if cooled to very low temperatures like about 4 degrees above absolute zero. There is also a class of superconducting ceramics but they cannot carry as much current without loosing their superconductivity as the low temperature superconductors.

As others have noted at room temperatures the best is the Periodic Element Group 11 metals: silver followed by copper and then gold. Silver is only very slightly better than copper. Those three also happen to be the best metallic conductors of heat as well. The very best conductor of heat is diamond, which interestingly is an insulator to electricity.

The previous answer misidentifies copper, silver, and gold as platinum group elements. The six platinum group metals are ruthenium, rhodium, palladium, osmium, iridium, and platinum. Silver is about 7 times better at conducting electricity than platinum.

Answer 2

In terms a FAMILY OF METALS, it would be the Platinum Group Metals: Pt, Ag, Au, Cu, etc.... Of these, Platinum is THE BEST, but is quite expensive, then Gold. SIlver being relatively easy to mine and process, is usually a good choice. Good Ol Copper will get the job done, at hardly any expense (these days)

As Arbeit points out, it is the electron structure of elements that makes them "Best" at conductance. The Platinum group, being Transition Metals, do not strictly follow the rules for filling electron orbitals and shells, and also act as though they had only one valence electron.

Answer 3

I believe that in theory, column IA of the periodic table is best at conducting electricity. However, we don't use these elements for wiring because they are either a gas (H), or very brittle metals that tend to corrode rapidly (explode) in contact with moist air. Otherwise, they occur rarely in the Earth's crust, making them economically infeasible for general use.

However, these elements found in the leftmost column of the periodic table (H, Li, Na, etc.) have an outermost shell with only a single electron. This electron is easily given to (or received from) a neighbor in the process of conducting an electrical current.

Answer 4

Gold and copper.

Answer 5

i think iron n copper

Answer 6

silver