why does copper conduct electricity?

Answer 1

Here's a great article that should explain it nicely:

Insulators, conductors, semiconductors, and superconductors

Every material in the world can be defined in terms of how well it conducts electricity. Certain things, such as cold glass, never conduct electricity. They're known as insulators. Materials which do conduct electricity, like copper, are called conductors. In the middle are materials known as semiconductors, which don't conduct as well as conductors, but can carry current. Last, are materials called superconductors, which when brought down to very low temperatures turn into superhighways of current -- they conduct electricity without any resistance whatsoever.

All these different materials are made of atoms that look basically alike: a nucleus with electrons circling around them. What makes them so different when it comes to conducting electricity?

The difference comes down to nothing more than how the electrons are arranged around the nucleus. The laws of quantum physics say that there are only specific bands (or tracks) in which any electron can travel. There are some interesting facts about these bands. First of all, only a very specific number of electrons can travel in each one; once it's full, it's full. Second, which track an electron is in corresponds to how much energy that electron has. And third, some of the bands are closer to each other than others.

Different atoms have different numbers of electrons, and how those electrons are arranged in the bands defines whether a material made of those atoms will conduct.

In every atom, the electrons crowd down as close to the nucleus as possible, since the bands that are closest to the nucleus are also the ones that require the least energy. That means that the outermost track might not be completely filled. If it's not filled, then it's easy for an electron to jump from one atom into an empty space in the atom next door. Ta da! Moving electrons, and therefore an electrical current. Atoms with empty spaces in the outermost electron bands are conductors.

Let's go to the next scenario, where the outermost track is completely filled. If the electrons in this track were given a little kick of energy -- say from a flash of light -- they might have enough energy to jump up to to the next, empty track. But remember, some bands are close to each other, and some aren't. In atoms where the next track is close by, an energetic electron will have no problem jumping up a track. Suddenly, this electron is in a track with empty spaces, and electrons can move from atom to atom just as described above. Since these kinds of atoms can only conduct electricity sometimes -- when given this outside jolt of energy -- they're the semiconductors. Atoms with a full outside track which is very close to the next empty track are semiconductors.

If, however, the next potential track is too far away, then an electron can't jump to it even if it's given a jolt of energy. These electrons will always stick in their assigned track, never allowed to roam to another atom -- and never forming current. Atoms with a full outside track which is far from the next empty track are insulators.

Superconductors are a whole different breed, since no material known today superconducts except at very cold temperatures. Scientists are discovering materials that do superconduct closer and closer to room temperature all the time, but no one is quite sure how that happens. However, John Bardeen, Leon Cooper, and Robert Schrieffer did come up with a theory for how the very coldest superconductors work, known as the BCS theory. In such materials, at low temperatures, the atoms vibrate in a way that forces the moving electrons closer together. Normally electrons don't like to huddle so close, since they're all electrically negative and therefore repel each other. But in superconductors, the electrons actually achieve almost an attraction for each other. The result is that as one electron moves, it pulls the next electron along right behind it. Electrons slip from atom to atom more easily than they ever do normally. Atoms which, at the right temperature, can make electrons attract instead of repel each other are superconductors.

Answer 2

Any conductor of electricity must provide some way for charge to move, thus it requires mobility of an electrical charge, such as an electron.

Copper, like most metals, consists in the solid phase of a lattice of atoms that are bound together with a "cloud" of freely moving electrons in what is called the conduction energy band. The free moving electrons conduct electricity. When even the smallest voltage, or energy drop, across copper is applied, the electrons simply pass through the copper with very little resistance. Lack of electrical resistance is another way to think of conductivity.

Answer 3

The average homeowner feels they can trust the professional electrician who wired their house to know what he's doing. Most electricians have had formal training or years of experience in their field of expertise, and that's good because you trust them with the safety of your home and the lives of your family.

But how much do they really know about electricity?

Some of the things they think they know are nothing more than circular logic or assumptions based on assumptions! This has led to some very wrong thinking and has to be corrected time and time again, yet they claim to have all the right answers on matters electrical.

For example, ask an electrician how they know how much voltage is in a circuit. You'll be told about the magic little box called a voltmeter which can wondrously measure the invisible, odorless, weightless electrons and give the voltage. How do they calibrate this device to be so accurate? They run voltage through it and set it to match! Of course, you can clearly see the voltage they run through it would be known because it had been measured by a voltmeter, and on and
on in a prime example of circular logic.

The truth is they don't even care enough to change major mistakes in their theory when they find them. When they first started their arcane art, they guessed at which direction the electrons were moving and assigned the familiar positive and negative signs according to that - but they got it backwards! A century or two later, they decided they had it
backwards but did not bother to change it except when working on things like designing computer chips. They'll tell you "it's good enough" or "it doesn't matter" when it comes to your home, but since when has completely backwards from reality been good enough on something as deadly as electricity in your home? What if a gunsmith told you backwards doesn't matter when shooting a gun?

Electronicists are often at a loss when confronted with evidence that doesn't fit their beliefs. Light bulbs are not actually "light bulbs" but dark absorbers. When you turn them on, they suck the dark out of the room. You can prove this by holding your hand under a "light bulb". The dark will stack up under your hand where its path to the absorber is blocked by your hand. When they quit working and turn a dark color, it's not because they burnt out, it's because they're full. I once explained this to an electrician and he was at a complete
loss for anything to say. I could tell by the way his shoulders were convulsing as he walked away he was sobbing, and he avoided talking to me about electricity from then on. I didn't bother to tell him that electrons don't really exist (they have never been directly observed by anyone), but that electricity works with magic smoke. If you touch the wrong two wires together, the magic smoke leaks out and the circuit stops working.
By now it should be clear to the objective reader that electricians may think they know about electricity, but it's really nothing more than the guesses they've been taught to believe as fact by the self interests that controls the electrical industry. In any of the "official" codebooks and research journals they refuse to publish anything from outside their secular clique so they keep control of all information on the subject, even going as far as convincing lawmakers
to force their beliefs on the public. More and more communities even have laws requiring all electricians to be approved by the secular code and forced to follow the Electronicism dogma in their work!

If you would like more information on this subject, a copy of our 3 hour video _Answers about Electricity_, or to make donations, contact us at The Amish Institute for Scientific Research.