why does silver conduct electricity best?

Answer 1

Those other guys are wrong. Silver DOES conduct better than any other metal. The only better conductors are superconductors. Copper, aluminum, and gold are all good conductors, but silver is #1. The electrons at the outside of a silver atom are loose and ready to fall off when an electrical voltage starts pushing on them.

Here are the 10 best conducting metals.

Relative electrical conductivity...
Silver, 106.4
Copper, 100.0
Gold, 73.4
Aluminum, 65.0
Magnesium, 39.9
Rhodium, 36.4
Iridium, 32.5
Tungsten, 31.4
Zinc, 29.1
Cobalt, 27.4

Answer 2

Does Silver Conduct Electricity

Answer 3

Electrons orbit around atoms, just like moons orbit around planets. When electricity is flowing, an electron in orbit around one atom will be attracted to another atom, and will jump to an orbit around that one. That happens so many times, with so many electrons, it adds up to an electric current.

In silver the atoms are organized in such a way that it's easier for an electron to jump from an orbit around one atom to an orbit around another atom. So more electrons do it, and you get more electric current.

Copper is usually a lot cheaper than silver and conducts electricity almost as well. Aluminum is even cheaper, but it has a problem on the surface of an aluminum wire, where it's connected to a connector at the end of the wire. The problem is that when aluminum is exposed to the air, it quickly corrodes a microscopic amount, and forms a coating which does not conduct electricity. But that can be solved by having a tight connection at the end of the wire, so the aluminum that contacts the connector is not exposed to the air, because the connection is tight enough to keep the air out.

Some materials, at some temperatures, conduct better than silver, so it's not always true that it's the best conductor.

Answer 4

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RE:
why does silver conduct electricity best?

Answer 5

metal resistivity, nano-ohm-meter
silver 14.71
copper 15.80
gold 20.11
aluminum 25.00

The conductivity is determine by how freely the electrons move in a metal. This is related to the band structure in a crystal. There is not a simple answer, and maybe not even a complicated one.

Answer 6

Gold is a good answer, but a super conductor is the best conductor of electricity, all most unreadable ohm's resistance to current when it is in the correct state. ie cold enuf! A super conductor is a ceramic basted matrial and is in insulator but when cooled to the correct temp it becomes a super conductor. It is the basis used in M.R.I. systems. ie; Magnetic Resonence Imaging, used to scan people in hospitals! Hi tech stuff for making pritty darn strong magnets that can aline dipoles of molicules that can be read via an electric filed...? A picture!
Dave...

Answer 7

Gold is better than silver or copper. Extremely critical circuits are made of gold. It has freer electrons in solid form so it conducts better, this is also why it reflects light nicely, the electrons interact with and scatter the light.

Answer 8

I thought copper conducted electricity the best.

Answer 9

Its free elctrons are not as strongly attracted to the neucleus

Answer 10

its got more electrons but like the first guy said GOLD is the #1 conductor