Why Is Copper More Conductive Than Iron Despite Fewer Free Electrons?

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    Conduction
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SUMMARY

Copper is more conductive than iron despite having fewer free electrons due to its lower scattering cross section of ions and impurities. Specifically, copper has 8.47 x 1022 free electrons per cm3, while iron has 17 free electrons per cm3. The higher scattering cross section in iron leads to increased resistance, which diminishes its conductivity compared to copper. This phenomenon highlights the importance of both electron density and scattering effects in determining metal conductivity.

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rachelcapt
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I thought the thing that makes a metal more conductive is the number of free electrons...

How then is copper more conductive than iron when copper has only 8.47 (x10^22) free electrons per cm cubed compared to a massive 17 for iron?

If someone could explain this to me my face will go like this :-)

Thanks
 
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The scattering cross section of ions and other impurities is higher in Fe.

JMD
 
Thanks for your replies - that sounds right.

Does anyone have any figures for the scattering cross sectional areas of Cu and Fe?
 

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