Why is silver the best conductor?

[iScience]

More specifically, the free electron density in increasing order goes like this:

Ag
Cu
Al

why then is the conductivity in the reverse order? ie the free electron density doesn't seem to play much of a role in conductivity beyond a certain point.

 

[rwooduk]

Probably due to electron-electron scattering, if there are too many free electrons then they will collide with each other and limit the conductivity.

 

[ZapperZ]

More specifically, the free electron density in increasing order goes like this:

Ag
Cu
Al

why then is the conductivity in the reverse order? ie the free electron density doesn't seem to play much of a role in conductivity beyond a certain point.

Really? Where did you get the info that the conductivity is in "the reverse order"?

http://chemistry.about.com/od/molec...f-Electrical-Resistivity-And-Conductivity.htm

Secondly, the conductivity isn't just a function of charge carrier density. The resistivity is a function scattering of charge carrier with phonons, impurities, defects, etc. BTW, electron-electron scattering, per Landau Fermi Liquid description, plays a minor role in the conductivity at ordinary temperatures. It is only apparent at extremely low temperature near 0 K.

This probably should have been posted in the Solid State physics forum.

Zz.