They carry energy from one part of the conductor to another.
The reason metals are good conductors is because they have a less electron affinity, or they just don't have a lot of them. The valance electrons they have are held loosely so it is easier for new electrons to push through, creating electricity.
Things that electricity move through easily are called conductors. The reason electricity moves through these materials more easily than others is that the electrons in these materials are not tightly bound or even associated with any particular atom. Physicist like to think of the the electrons in conductors as forming some kind of charged gas or liquid. They call it a sea of electrons. Please take note that I do not mean to send the impression that electrons in a conductor LITERALLY form a liquid or gas, but their movements are such to lend themselves to that analogy. We think of a wire kind of as a water pipe. One droplet of water entering the pipe on one side sends precisely one drop of water out of the other side. Really electricity is motion, the motion of charge carrier (electrons in metals). Their movement is a response to the electric field, which is a consequence (in a circuit) of a non-uniform distribution of charges.
Conductors are usually made of metals. The reason why the handle of a metal spoon gets hot in a hot bowl of soup is because metal is a conductor of heat. Insulators are usually made of materials such as styrofoam, plastic, and paper. That is why when you buy a cup of coffee at a cafe it is given to you in a paper cup.
ohm's law ..... E = I x R but the facts are that most of the time the voltage (E) is fixed so I = E / R so the higher the resistance, the lower the current. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrical_resistance A resistance resist the current to flow and makes the current lower in an electrical circuit. The voltage in an electrical circuit is given from the source (battery etc) and will not be higer by adding a resistance, but in the part of the electrical circuit where you put the resistance the voltage could be higer (and it would then be lower other parts)
Oh, dude, stable atoms typically have 8 valence electrons because they want to be all balanced and happy. It's like they're throwing a party and they need 8 cool electrons to join in on the fun. So yeah, 8 valence electrons is the magic number for stable atoms.
It obviously uses conductors to carry electricity through the system however non-conductive material is used for the reason of safety, organization of electrical components, and mechanical work.
using the energy band model, i would rank metals as good conductors. The energy gap in metals is negligible, that is the valence band and the conduction band overlap. Thus it is very easy for electrons in the valence band to move to the conduction band thereby conducting currents. Hence metals are good conductors.
the reason metals are good conductors is because in their subatomic structure electrons float as if in a sea, also called a sea of electrons that is why you can magnetize most metals and they conduct electricity.
The reason metals are good conductors is because they have a less electron affinity, or they just don't have a lot of them. The valance electrons they have are held loosely so it is easier for new electrons to push through, creating electricity.
No, nonmetals are generally poor conductors of heat and electricity. This is because they do not have freely moving electrons that can carry the heat or electric charge effectively. Metals, on the other hand, are good conductors due to the presence of delocalized electrons.
The same reason that all conductors are conductors: it has a lot of free electrons.
Moisture can act as a conductor of electricity rather than an insulator. The presence of moisture can decrease the electrical resistance between conductors and increase the chances of electrical shorts or malfunctions. For this reason, it is important to protect electrical equipment from exposure to moisture to prevent accidents or damage.
One reason is that since the electrons travel on the surface of the transmission lines there is more surface area when conductors are bundled thereby reducing resistance to current flow thereby reducing the voltage drop across the transmission path. In extra high voltage line an electrical discharge formed by ionization of fluids surrounded by the conductor which is highly energized , so energized that it creates electrical conduction but not high enough to electrical breaking or arcing surrounding objects. this phenomenon is called corona losses.to prevent this corona loss bundle conductor is used.
Metals are good conductors of both electric charges and heat because their electrons are "loose." (info from physics book)
Not all are. The general rule among metals is that the better it is for conducting heat, the better it is at conducting electricity. But for things that are not metals, this is not the rule. Diamonds are astonishingly good at conducting heat, much better than copper, but they are terrible at conducting electricity and are considered to be insulators.
Basic Answer:Electrical insulators do not conduct electricity and are are typically among the poorer heat conductors.Good electrical conductors are metals and metals are typically very good heat conductors.Complicated Answer:The term "insulator" is hardly appropriate in reference to thermal conductivity if one means to say that the material has low thermal conductivity. The difference between good thermal conductor and poor thermal conductors is a factor of perhaps a hundred or for extremely different materials such as air (very poor) and diamond (excellent) is a factor of 100,000. That is modest compared to the difference between poor conductors (rubber) and excellent (copper) which is a factor of a billion billion billion.The connection between good heat conductors and good electrical conductors is a reliable but not a law of nature. Good electrical conductors are good thermal conductors due to the fact that electrons participate in both processes. Nearly free electrons are the reason metals are electrical conductors and contribute a large part of the thermal conductivity. (Diamonds are a peculiar exception.)The connection between poor electrical conductors and poor thermal conductivity is less good and really only a consequence that the electrons are not there to help out.
Since you are talking about conductors, a high temperature one will have a high resistance. Reason being that the distance between the conduction and the valence band keeps on increasing on the increase of temperature. A substance is said to be conducting if it has FREE electron in its conduction band. Since the distance b.w the to bands increases, less number of electrons are able to jump from valence band to conduction band, hence more resistance...