Which Metals Are Poor Electrical Conductors?
Although metals are supposed to be good conductors of electricity and heat, metals like mercury, lead, alloys of iron and chromium, titanium and stainless steel are poor conductors when compared to silver, copper and gold. For example, stainless steel 310 has an electrical conductivity of 1.28 x 10E6 siemens/m, while mercury’s electrical conductivity is 1.1 x 10E6 siemens/m. However, silver, which has the highest electrical conductivity of all metals, has a n electrical conductivity of 62.1 x 10E6.
The alloy formed by the combination of the metals iron and chromium has the electrical conductivity of 0.74 x 10E6. Bronze, which is an alloy of copper and zinc, has an electrical conductivity of 7.4 x 10E6. This electrical conductivity is lower than the ones given for pure copper and pure zinc, which are 58.5 x 10E6 and 16.6 x 10E6, respectively. In reference to both zinc and copper, this means that bronze does not conduct electricity as well as these two metals.
Electrical conductivity is a measure of how well electricity will flow through a given material. Metals are defined as being good conductors of both electricity and heat. In general, if a material is a good conductor of electricity, then it is a good conductor of heat. Conversely, a metal that is a poor conductor of electricity will be a poor conductor of heat.
