Highest electrical conductivity
- Who
- Silver
- Where
- Not Applicable
- When
- 18 February 2012
Silver (symbol Ag, atomic number 47) possesses the highest electrical conductivity at room temperature of any element at 6.29 x 10^7 Sm^-1 (siemens per metre, a unit of measurement to indicate how well a material can transport an electrical charge). Silver is commonly used in jewellery, table-ware and coins, but also in electrical contacts, in mirrors and as a catalyst in chemical reactions. However, as a precious metal, it is prohibitively expensive, which is why copper wire is more commonly used as a conductor of electricity.
Electrical conductivity is a measure of how well a material allows electricity to flow through it. The SI unit of electrical resistance is the siemens: Sm-1 (where the -1 is superscript) and often expressed as siemens/m.