What is Conductor: Definition and 811 Discussions

In physics and electrical engineering, a conductor is an object or type of material that allows the flow of charge (electrical current) in one or more directions. Materials made of metal are common electrical conductors. Electrical current is generated by the flow of negatively charged electrons, positively charged holes, and positive or negative ions in some cases.
In order for current to flow within a closed electrical circuit, it is not necessary for one charged particle to travel from the component producing the current (the current source) to those consuming it (the loads). Instead, the charged particle simply needs to nudge its neighbor a finite amount, who will nudge its neighbor, and on and on until a particle is nudged into the consumer, thus powering it. Essentially what is occurring is a long chain of momentum transfer between mobile charge carriers; the Drude model of conduction describes this process more rigorously. This momentum transfer model makes metal an ideal choice for a conductor; metals, characteristically, possess a delocalized sea of electrons which gives the electrons enough mobility to collide and thus affect a momentum transfer.
As discussed above, electrons are the primary mover in metals; however, other devices such as the cationic electrolyte(s) of a battery, or the mobile protons of the proton conductor of a fuel cell rely on positive charge carriers. Insulators are non-conducting materials with few mobile charges that support only insignificant electric currents.

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  1. V

    Calculating Capacitance of Isolated Capacitor with Conductor Inserted

    Homework Statement An isolated capacitor with capacitance C = 1 µF has a charge Q = 29 µC on its plates A conductor is inserted into the capacitor with thickness of the conductor is 1/3 the thickness of the capacitor and is centered in between the plates of the capacitor. What is the...
  2. G

    Magnetic field of a linear conductor

    Anyone can tell me why there is a -ve for the z= -r cot theta for the picture shown below? thanks!
  3. S

    Insulator Conductor Concept Question

    For insulators the excess charge stays on the outside of the object. For conductors the excess charge travels through the sea of electrons until the net charge inside the object is zero with the rest of the charges pushed to the outer edges of the conductor. So with both the excess charges...
  4. N

    Force on electron as it travels through conductor

    Homework Statement In a vacuum, a straight conductor has 18-A current that goes upward. An electron is traveling at 8.92 x 10^4 m/s. If the electron is 0.2 m from the conductor and its instantaneous velocity is parallel to the conductor (albeit heading downward), find the magnitude and...
  5. H

    Electric field inside a conductor

    I have some questions about electric field inside a conductor. In fact, if a neutral conductor is placed within a capacitor, why its electric field inside the conductor at the beginning not zero, then it is zero? Why does the field disappear? How about if a charged conductor is placed...
  6. N

    Electric field of an infinite plane and a conductor

    Homework Statement Hi all. I have two questions. 1) The electric field of a uniformly charged, infinite plane is given by: E = \frac{\sigma }{{2\varepsilon _0 }} The electric field just outside a conductor is given by: E = \frac{\sigma }{{\varepsilon _0 }} Why are these expressions not...
  7. C

    Electric field inside a conductor

    A cylindrical aluminium bar is placed vertically on an insulating surface. The radius of the bar is R and the length is L. The bar has a total charge of zero. Compute the electric field inside and outside the bar. This is a Homework problem given by Count Iblis to the PF community :cool:
  8. A

    What is the skin depth at DC in an ideal conductor (superconductor)?

    Why is it that the current in an ideal electric conductor resides in a very thin layer at the surface of the conductor?
  9. N

    Questions about spherical conductor

    Homework Statement A charge Q is placed at the center of a conducting spherical shell of inner radius R1 and outer radius R2. The sphere has no net charge. Ok, I have some statements for this setup. Would you be kind to check them? The Attempt at a Solution 1) The electric field in a...
  10. D

    Potential of a Grounded Conductor

    Hi, As I understand it, the potential of a charged conductor is the work done in bringing a unit positive charge to its surface from infinity. Is this correct? When a conductor is grounded, then any excess electrons on it go into the ground. Is this correct? If so, why? Assuming that...
  11. R

    Ideal conductor vs superconductor

    What is the difference, apart from the Meissner effect? What are the practical consequences of Meissner effect? How can I, by experiment, deduce whether a material is an ideal conductor or superconductor? superconductor has zero resistivity. So what happens when we apply a potential...
  12. 8

    Solve Conductor Questions: Find Total Current Carried by Silver Wire

    Homework Statement A 2.0-m length of silver wire has a uniform cross-sectional area of 0.6mm^2. If the drift velocity in this wire is 5.0 x 10^{-5} m/s and the electrons all move in the same direction along the wire. What is the total current carried by the wire? Homework Equations So...
  13. L

    Potential in a conductor within an external field

    Hi, Just got a doubt, which is probably silly but nonetheless cannot solve. Say you have a conductor placed in an external uniform electric field. We know that charges will be induced on the conductor and distribute on its surface as to nullify the field inside the conductor. Then, at...
  14. J

    Resistance of a odd shaped conductor

    Homework Statement http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/2536/physicsme1.th.png Homework Equations I = \int \int J . dS V = - \int E . dl V = IR The Attempt at a Solution I'm not really sure how to get started on this problem, generally I would start with Laplace's equation but...
  15. K

    Magnetic field strength needed to lift a heavy conductor

    Homework Statement A heavy conductor (mass m, length l, resistance R) is suspended by two springs each with spring constant k, and connected to a battery with electric potential V as shown in the figure. A magnetic field B is now imposed. The acceleration of gravity is 9.8 m/s^2. I'm going to...
  16. F

    Can a single conductor be used as capacitor ?

    Arright this appeared in my exam tommorrow and I was baffled by the question...Is there any way to store the charge in single conductor or the answer was "not possible" ?
  17. Z

    Why is electric field inside a conductor zero?

    i wanted to ask why the electric field inside a hollow conductor zero throughout and not just at the centre.
  18. T

    Field of long cylindrical shell conductor

    [SOLVED] Field of long cylindrical shell conductor Homework Statement Shown above is the cross-section of a long cylindrical shell conductor of inner radius a=4.00 cm and outer radius b=7.00 cm which carries a current into the page. The current density J (current/area) is uniform across the...
  19. C

    Help with this : the field inside a conductor is zero therefore

    the field inside a conductor is zero therefore A. the potential inside the conductor is zero B. the potential cannot be zero C. The potential inside the conductor is the same as the potential just outside the conductor (on the surface) D. the potential inside the conductor cannot be defined...
  20. M

    Force on a Current Carrying Conductor

    Homework Statement Which of the following situations would result in a magnetic force on the wire that points due north? Check all that apply. Current in the wire flows straight down; the magnetic field points due west. Current in the wire flows straight up; the magnetic field points due...
  21. manjuvenamma

    Ampere's swimming rule about magnetic field around a current carrying conductor

    We know that if current is flowing in the direction of z-axis (verical), magnetic field is formed in a plance perpendicular to that line i.e., in the XY plane. That is if you keep a compass in the XY plane it will experience a force as per the rule. But what will happen to a compass that is...
  22. R

    E-field between insulator and conductor

    Homework Statement I have a slab of conductor on the ground with thickness, a, and it extends in all directions infinitely. Then I have a slab of insulator above the conductor of thickness, a, and it also extends infinitely in all directions. The two slabs are a distance, 2a, from each...
  23. E

    Electrostatics conductor problem

    [SOLVED] electrostatics problem Homework Statement Two spherical cavities, of radii a and b, are hollowed out from the interior of a (neutral) conducting sphere of radius R. At the center of each cavity a point charge is placed--call these charges q_a and q_b. Why is it necessarily true...
  24. O

    Calculation of Conduction Electron Population for Semi Conductor

    Hi everyone, From this website (link: http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/HBASE/solids/fermi3.html#c1 ), we get the following expression: Population Density of Conduction Electron = \int ^{\infty}_{Egap}N(E)d(E) = \frac{2^{5/2}(m \pi k T)^{3/2} exp (-E gap/2kT)}{h^3} My questions are based...
  25. S

    Conductor with a charge problem

    Hey everyone, first post and having an issue thinking about a simple problem. I'm into chemistry so I struggle to get all of these physics ideas down correctly. The problem is about a conductor with a neutral surface. The conductor has a cavity with a point charge of +P inside of it. A...
  26. P

    Do conductors have electron holes?

    Do in conductor (like Cu wire) have electron holes, like there is in the semi-conductors?
  27. J

    Amount of charge spherical conductor can hold in air

    I'm a little thrown off by this because we there is no voltage value given... And how does the air play into the problem? I just something to help me get started: What is the maximum amount of charge that a spherical conductor of radius 5.0 cm can hold in air?
  28. S

    Point charge at the center of a spherical conductor

    I have the problem A positive point charge of magnitude 2.4 micro Coulombs is at the center of an uncharged spherical conducting shell of inner radius 65 cm and outer radius 85 cm. I have been trying to calculate the total charge for the inner sphere. I solved for the Electric Field by...
  29. P

    Ideal conductor and charge movement

    Hi This question really matters me and I would like to someone to point me out (rigorously if possible) why and what makes charge move in ideal conductor. All good conductors are modeled as being ideal so that the Maxwell equations inside the conductor needs not to be solved. So as electric...
  30. G

    What exactly happens in a conducting conductor?

    How exactly do conductors conduct electrons? I'm confident with Maxwell's equations and I can accept a classical treatment like \sigma=\frac{nq^2\tau}{m} where \tau is the scattering rate. So actually I'd like to know what exactly happens with the electromagnetic fields when a voltage...
  31. P

    What makes the electrons move in conductor? (em induction)

    What makes the electrons move in conductor, while I am moving the magnet among the conductor in closed circular loop? It is the magnetic force from the magnet, but why when I get close the magnet they start moving in direction, oppose of the magnetic force?
  32. J

    Electric field at the surface of a conductor

    Homework Statement Put in plain words: "In a static situation, the electric field at the surface of a conductor can have no component parallel to the surface, because this would violate the condition that the charges on the surface are at rest." Would this same statement be a valid one for...
  33. M

    Making an insulator become a conductor?

    Good afternoon(or good morning,it depends on where you are :zzz:),this is my first topic in this great forum so don't be very tough with me okay? My question concerns the means of producing electricity and to be more precise:Electromagnetism. I read that if you move a conductor(such as copper...
  34. E

    Magnetic field inside square conductor

    Hello everybody, I got a small question and was wondering if somebody could help me with that. Problem: I have a square conductor with side length m. I am now trying to figure out what the magnetic field B is at any point inside that square. Here is what I've come up with so far and...
  35. E

    Magnetic field inside square conductor

    Hello everybody, I got a small question and was wondering if somebody could help me with that. Problem: I have a square conductor with side length m. I am now trying to figure out what the magnetic field B is at any point inside that square. Here is what I've come up with so far and I think...
  36. P

    Magnetic Field Inside Cylindrical Conductor

    why is the magnetic field just inside a cylindrical conductor with inner radii a, and outer radii b carrying a uniform current I distributed throught it's croos section just 0 inside the conductor. I used ampere's law and that surely doesn't give 0
  37. H

    Proving Charge Induced on Conductor is Equal to Sum of Imaginary Charges

    Imagine that there is a point charge in vicinity of an infinite grounded sheet of conductor of arbitrary shape and size such that the problem of finding the potential can be solved by using the method of images. Is their a way to prove that the total charge induced on this sheet is always equal...
  38. B

    Force on a conductor in a magnetic field

    Homework Statement Bill knows that a solution with an ionic salt dissolved in itwill allow a current to flow. Bill finds this quite interesting, so he finds a piece of plastic tubing and hangs it from an apparatus. He pours seawater into the tube until it is full. He then moves a magnet around...
  39. E

    Stranded Conductor vs. Single Core

    Will the impedance characteristics for a length of stranded conductor be really close to an equivalent length of single core conductor? For example, can you expect the same impedance from a 20 ft. run of 12 AWG single core as you would from a 20 ft. run of 20 AWG stranded conductor? I know...
  40. F

    Why does the charge on a conductor accumulate at sharp points?

    Why does the charge on a conductor accumulate at sharp points? I've read one or two explanations, but I don't follow them, and when I try to think about it I reach the opposite conclusion. Halliday and Resnick has an example where a large conducting sphere and a small conducting sphere are...
  41. B

    Simple Electrostatic problem with conductor

    Hi Friends, I was thinking of having a either a point charge or some amount of charge at the center(let us say positive charge) and having a hollow concentric sphere( a conductor) around it. Now, there will be induced charge on the inside of hollow sphere and accordingly opposite charge...
  42. I

    Why cant there be an electric field in a conductor?

    why can't there be an electric field in a conductor?
  43. S

    How can a conductor of uniform charge density exist

    Please tell me if by gauss law total electric field inide a solid conductor is zero... how can uniform charge density exists... Will there be any electric field inside a charged conductor ? or will it be always zero.
  44. A

    Charges in conductor and insulator

    by definition, a charge cannot move inside an insulator and by a similar definition, a charge can move inside a conductor. so, I don't understand how do we could charge an insulator, the charge cannot move, or there is something that i missed?
  45. R

    Voltage between two conductor line

    Homework Statement My problem is from book Electromagnetic with applications by Kraus & fleisch.problem no. 2-5-2. In the problem "two conductor" line is given & magnitude of electric field due to this on a co ordinate(43cm,32cm) is also given=450v/m. Radius of conductor, Position of center of...
  46. P

    Temperature effect on resistance of Electrical Connector Conductor

    Hi I am currently working at a company for a work placement who make underwater mateable electrical connectors. The company recently have been asked to make a connector which can withstand high temperatures. Basically, the conductor parts of the connector will be in hot oil which will have a...
  47. L

    Conducting Plates, electrical fields w/ conductor.

    1.Two plates placed a distance "D" apart. One charged +Q, the other -Q. An uncharged slab of metal is placed between the plates. 2. Does this slab change the electric field outside or between the plates (but outside the slab)? Do forces exerted on particle sitting between the plates (but...
  48. R

    Can a Circular Conductor Generate Current in a Magnetic Field?

    We know that if an electron enters a region of magnetic field which is perpendicular to the direction of its velocity, the electron will start moving in a circular path. But, now instead of a single electron we place a circular condutor in the region of the field, and somehow manage to give an...
  49. S

    Are the electrons in conductor with current repel?

    Are the electrons in conductor with current repel? When they move in conductor with current on closed circular loop, are they repelling? http://img135.imageshack.us/img135/260/electronrepelgt9.gif"
  50. S

    I do not understand how the neutral conductor lose electrons

    Homework Statement When a positively charged conductor touches a neutral conductor, the neutral conductor will (A) Gain protons (B) Gain electrons (C) Lose protons (D) Lose electrons (E) Stay neutral Homework Equations The Attempt at a Solution You know how when two different charged...
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