The vast majority of materials that conduct electricity are metals, for the simple reason that metals contain an excess of free electrons.
You already have the answer to the question in the title of this article. But keep reading and you will find more relevant information to complement the understanding!
Even though electrons do not inhabit atoms as planets inhabit the solar system, the atomic model based on the solar system model, in which an atom’s electrons revolve around the nucleus as planets revolve around the sun, provides a simpler form. to explain.
It is known to many that the positive nucleus that binds the negative electrons to the atom. The force with which this is achieved is called the Coulomb force.
However, the force becomes decreases with distance: it can be inferred from this model that, as the shells increase, the force pulling the electrons occupying them becomes weaker and weaker, obviously, by pulling electrons out.
These electrons are pulled with so little force that they manage to escape and break free from the atom. They are therefore referred to as free electrons.
What accounts for a metal’s propensity to lose its valence electrons is its large atomic size and its own scarcity of valence electrons.
Why are metals good conductors of electric current? understand the details
Each metal atom produces one or two free electrons, and a sheet of any metal contains at least a billion atoms.
The sheet is therefore absolutely full of free electrons, and it is these free electrons that propagate the heat and electricity that pass through it.
When we connect a copper wire to a battery, the positive terminal attracts the negative free electrons towards it.
The sudden force exerted by the electric field causes them to go haywire and forcefully collide with each other at tremendous speeds.
What follows is a domino effect: the free electron on which the free electron behind it collides is propelled forward only to collide with a free electron in front of it.
Which in turn is then propelled to collide with another free electron and so on until the last free electron in the queue is propelled into the circuit.
Despite this, on average, electrons move forward with a relatively small velocity called the deflection velocity.
We know it’s very technical information, but as we told you at the beginning of the article, it’s relevant information. Especially for you who are detail oriented and like to know exactly how things work!
We talk about metals in general, which are electrical conductors. But we want to tell you that Geartech BR specializes in the import and sale of electrical insulators.
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