-----
An ongoing discussion beginning back in 2005 ...
2005
Q. I once read that Silver is a better conductor of electricity than Gold, the problem with silver however is that it is very rigid and tarnishes very easily. Am I correct?
Wellsley Over
- Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa
2005
"Electricity and Electronics"
by Bonnet & Kean
from Abe Books
or
Affil. Link
Your purchases make finishing.com possible
A. Yes you are correct.
Good luck!
Goran Budija
- Cerovski vrh Croatia
2005
A. Also better than gold is copper. Metals are nature's better conductors. Of course modern physics has invented (or should I say discovered?) superconductors. Zero resistance and they're not even metals.
Guillermo Marrufo
Monterrey, NL, Mexico
2005
Q. So, silver is a better conductor than gold but because it's not smooth and builds up a tarnish, the gold is better in the long run? Well the original question is if silver is a better conductor why do they use gold on cars' electrical components?
Justin Hansen
ase certification - Ogden, Utah, USA
2005
A. You have to look at two different things, Justin: the resistance of the solid material that is the conductor, and the resistance of the joint (or connection / contact surface / interface, or whatever you want to call it) that the current also has to pass through. Silver has higher conductivity (lower resistance) than gold. But it tarnishes, which means a high resistance oxide/sulfide forms on its surface. Silver is fine for many things, but where a very low voltage and low current is involved (for example, in small electronic signals, such as computers and cell phones) the tarnish can interfere with the signal at the joint, and gold must be used instead.
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
July 23, 2008
A. Silver is the best conductor, but usually not used due to expense. It would not surprise me to see it used in integrated circuits someday, however, like copper is now (and aluminum is/was). The difference isn't a lot, but 5% is 5%.
Tarnish could be a problem for high frequencies where skin effect becomes critical.
As for superconductors, most of the commonly used ones are in fact metals. A common one is an alloy of niobium and tin. The metallic ones are used for two reasons. First, wires can be easily made and coils easily wound. This on its face wouldn't be a deal breaker. You can easily imagine depositing films of superconducting material on drum,etching it,adding a insulating layer and repeating,thus creating a large number of windings.
The real problem is that the high temperature superconductors lose that property in high magnetic fields, which happens when you use them with high currents. The low temperature superconductors do this too, but at much higher currents so they are more useful. (Super conductors are mostly used for very high power magnets).
Tarnish on silver could become critical for applications where skin effect was important (high frequencies). In fact, in high powered RF amplifiers coils are often made from copper tubing and gold plated. Although gold is not as conductive as copper, it is resistant to corrosion. If the layer is thin compared to the thickness of the layer the current flows in, most of the current will flow in the copper anyway.
If skin effect was the only issue with silver, then we could find ways to deal with that. The easiest way to deal with it would be to deposit a thin layer of a inert material (alumina?) on the surface to prevent corrosion. If it was thin and robust enough,it could prevent corrosion while still transferring enough heat and not increase the size of the wire. The final answer comes down to cost. A silver wire would cost over 100 times a copper wire. While it might be useful in a semiconductor chip, where the actual cost of the silver would be very small compared to the cost of the chip, in a speaker cable it would be prohibitive (in a satellite, spacecraft, or weapon system, it might be ok, if the benefits justified it.)
Michael Michalski
- Kent Ohio
November 17, 2021
Beautifully explained and skillfully accurate, I read it twice.
Roland Weeks
Retired Technologist - City of Niagara Falls
July 22, 2010
Q. Why is aluminium a better conductor when its resistivity is higher than gold?
Gary Low
- Subang Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia
July 22, 2010
A. Hi, Gary. If aluminum's resistivity is higher, then by definition it's conductivity is lower; so aluminum is NOT a "better conductor" than gold.
However, whereas "better conductor" means higher conductivity, " 'better' conductor" might be interpreted differently :-)
Aluminum is probably a "better" conductor than gold if by "better" we mean "per unit of weight", or "per dollar spent", or things like that :-)
Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
January 31, 2012
A. Don't know if what I do is legitimate methodology, but when I am building Antennas, particularly high frequency stuff, I make the elements, waveguide, feedhorns, etc., out of copper, then electroplate them with silver, and then a thin layer of gold on top to prevent the tarnishing of the silver. I don't have the time or equipment to do precise measurement to see exactly what effect this has on the overall efficiency. I just figured that structurally the copper is good and easy to work with and cheap compared to the silver or gold. I figured that the silver plating would provide excellent characteristics considering the skin effect of UHF. Then to get away from the tarnish issue decreasing the conductivity of the silver, I plate a very thin layer of gold on top of the silver. I may be wrong but I felt that this should give one pretty close to the cost of the copper, with the conductive characteristics of silver and the non tarnishing characteristics of the gold. Maybe someone can tell me if the gold plate on top of the silver eliminates the conductivity of the silver? If so then the silver plate is a waste and one would be better off just plating a thin layer of gold on the copper. From what I can see it seems to work quite well, but then I reckon the gold would.
Leonard Legg
- Durango, Colorado, U.S.A.
November 20, 2012
A. I want to share my experiences.
YS Subramanyam
retired aviation specialist - Nellore, Andhra Pradesh, India
----
This site is primarily about metal finishing rather than aviation, but yes, please do share your experiences.
December 3, 2012
Q. Why does Gold not have a greater electrical conductivity than Silver? There is an s valence electron in both their valence shells. [And half filled s valence shell has fermi energy within its maximum energy state, which I think is the reason for their high electrical conductivity]. The reason I have this question is that, since the valence electron of gold must experience a lesser effective nuclear charge than that of silver [Because a Gold atom is bigger than Silver], it must be easier to excite right? Just curious.
Ranjit Raj
- Chennai, India
January 19, 2013
A. Silver is a purer metal than gold, it is a better conductor than gold but honestly I think it has a lot to do with time (money in the long run) and because society (humans) have invested so much into gold throughout the generations that you will never get the truth regarding which is better because we will never be told the truth and the fact that we have relied on gold as a currency (gold is just a better decoration than silver, it always has been, read the bible even God likes toys of gold). I think we have just stockpiled so much over the generations that we have to do something with it, just think about it: the ancient Egyptians stashed it because it was pretty and their pharoh liked it (it looked better on his slave girl than silver), but look at gold's weight, its high temperature to melt down is higher than other metals, it doesn't mix well with other metals nor chemicals, and to actually make gold a better decoration is to mix it with copper). The whole debate is currency and that is it.
And also take this simple little statement from a sales perspective: wants have always paid better than needs.
Gabriel C Shrader
- Virgin Islands
Hi Gabriel. We don't censor anyone's opinion ... we welcome it. Thank you for expressing yours! But I don't agree with it at all :-)
Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
June 26, 2014
Q. Hi there. I am sagar; my question is which is the best conductor gold or silver? If your answer is silver, how because the gold having corrosion resistivity know that's why, please clarify that to me.
Sagar R Malur
- malur, Karnataka, India
June 2014
"Everything Kids Science"
by Tom Robinson
from Abe Books
or
Affil. Link
Your purchases make finishing.com possible
A. Hi Sagar. Silver is definitely the best conductor. If you had a wire of a given length and diameter made of silver and a wire made of gold with the same dimensions, you would find that the resistance of the silver wire is less.
But if you now painted the ends of the silver wire, such that you had a resistive layer of paint interfering with the ability to get electricity through the paint layer and into & out of the actual silver, you would report that there is a problem using painted silver wire for certain applications.
When silver is exposed to the atmosphere, the topmost layer reacts with the air to build a tarnish layer of silver oxide or silver sulfide which is not conductive. This tarnish acts like the paint -- it makes it difficult to get electricity into and out of the actual silver. It's not terribly important for high voltages and high currents which can just power their way through the tarnish, but for electronic circuits of very low voltage and very low current like in cell phones, the silver tarnish can be an effective insulator.
Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
 | December 1, 2014 Q. What is the advantage of double bus bar system that indicates additional cost compared to single busbar system? sovit raut- kathmandu,Nepal January 2015 A. Hi Sovit. Hopefully someone else has a clear picture from your question, but I don't :-( I can't help you unless you expand upon your question and put it in context by describing your situation. Thanks. Regards, Ted Mooney, P.E. Striving to live Aloha finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey |
Using copper-gold alloy for alternator wiring
January 9, 2015
Q. We all know that silver and gold are very good conductors of electricity. My question is: if we are using an alloy of gold and copper in Alternator coils, what effects are determined as compared to copper winding coils?
Vishant TG
engineering - meerut,utter pradesh, India
January 2015
A. Hi Vishant. I don't have the electrical engineering background in alternator design to answer your question. But I doubt that an alloy of copper and gold will be a very good conductor. My limited understanding is that copper and other metals must be of very high purity for good conductivity. I can't quickly locate a chart with the electrical conductivity of karat golds, but I do see at
http://eddy-current.com/conductivity-of-metals-sorted-by-resistivity/
that the conductivity of several copper alloys is the range of about 4% to 15% of pure copper.
Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
Speaker cable copper oxidation or tarnish
February 28, 2015
Q. I have some PVC (Clear) insulated, stranded bare copper speaker wire. In some of the strand interstices there is visible black or green tarnish or oxidation. This is not just adjacent to cut ends, but far up the cable. These wires are just 4 years old.
What likely caused this?
Is this a manufacturing defect?
Should it be happening so soon (if at all)?
Is this detrimental to the performance of the wire?
Is this something that I should ask for my money back on?
Thank you for your help
Dave Philip
homeowner - St. Charles, IL USA
February 2015
A. Hi Dave. Although you consider cable that is four years old to be relatively new, most people and most manufacturers wouldn't. You could try sending photos to the manufacturer and see if they will do anything out of good will, but I don't think they will.
It is very hard to say what is causing the corrosion. There was a Chinese wall board scandal a few years ago where the plaster was so full of sulfides that it caused all the nearby copper pipe and wiring to turn green and black. Moisture wicking up from the uninsulated ends can cause the same thing. A very cold air conditioning duct nearby could cause some condensation on the cable ends and be drawn up under the insulation by capillary action. Unless the corrosion is in the middle of the wire in a spot which simply can't be reached by environmental factors it would very difficult to assert that it was a manufacturing defect.
Surface tarnish probably doesn't radically affect the current carrying capacity of the wire, and it's usefulness for driving large speakers; but it depends how bad because if it's serious corrosion to where a lot of the copper is gone, then a lot of the current carrying capacity is gone too.
Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
October 8, 2015
Q. Is there a specific compound/alloy/allotrope that would work better than silver, gold and copper? I have searched the web for 30 minutes and can't get anything. I am doing a 6th grade SS project and would like an answer ASAP. Maybe you can help?
T. Trollington
I'm a kid - Wylie, Texas, U.S.A., North America, Earth, the Solar System.
October 2015
A. Hi T. Pure copper may be your best bet because it is far cheaper and far more available that silver or gold, whereas silver is only about 5% more conductive than copper, and gold is less conductive than copper. You could google "relative conductivity chart". Pure copper wire is available from every hardware store.
Generally, alloys are not good conductors compared to purer metals -- probably related to the way free electrons can easily "bounce" from one copper atom to the next, but the path is not as smooth and easy if an atom of a different metal is encountered.
But, to avoid demerits, be very careful about using phrases like "would work better" unless you can enunciate rather precisely exactly what that phrase means to you.
Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
November 2, 2015
Q. My question is, since gold has got high ductility property, why can't we use gold and Copper alloy as a cable wire?
kiran h kalmani
- Karnataka , India
A. Hi Kiran. Who said you couldn't?
But alloys generally conduct electricity more poorly than pure metals. And what specific alloy of copper and gold are you thinking of which displays high ductility? And what exactly do you mean by "cable wire" -- because gold would be impossibly expensive for the cable wires I picture.
Abstract questions bring with them a dozen "ifs, ands & buts" that require a book to answer -- the relatively short length of forum responses mean that only very specific questions can be answered. Please get back to us with the full details of your situation, then we can probably help. Thanks!
Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
June 28, 2016
Q. Is lead more conductive than Copper?
Norah Loasi.Billy
- Honiara,Solomon Islands
June 2016
A. No.
Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
June 29, 2016
A. Good day Norah.
Try this simple experiment.
Shave off half the entire length of wood on a lead pencil, exposing the lead core.
Get a battery, does not matter what size, try 2 D cells.
Attach with copper wire one pole of the battery to the extreme right end of the lead core.
Attach with copper wire AND a flashlight bulb to the other pole of the battery to the extreme left side of the lead core and note the brightness of the bulb.
Move the copper wire with the bulb towards the right side ( towards the other pole) of the lead core.
What do you see?
Try this also with a length of copper pipe.
Hope this sheds some "LIGHT" on your question!
Regards,
Eric Bogner, Lab. Tech
Aerotek Mfg. Ltd. - Whitby, Ontario, Canada
June 2016
Hi Eric. Excellent idea for a science project, which I hope Noah or someone will undertake. But a "lead pencil" is graphite rather than lead.
Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
June 30, 2016
A. What Ted said. I'll add this: most pencil "lead" is admixed with clay. It might not conduct electricity at all.
Even pure graphite is a poor conductor relative to metals. By 2 orders of magnitude, if memory serves.
Dave Wichern
Consultant - The Bronx, New York
July 10, 2016
Q. I heard that silver is first and best conductor. But I saw on internet that carbon is a good conductor. Still now I don't know which is good conductor.
Muhil Gopal
- salem, Tamil Nadu, India
July 2016
A. Hi Muhil. Graphene is a special form of carbon which is a better conductor than silver. But, as we speak, it's still more of a laboratory curiosity than a practical material to make wire and bus bars from. Other forms of carbon, like graphite and diamond offer much lower to much much lower conductivity than silver. So silver would be the "best conductor".
Still, due to high cost, silver may not be a practical material for many applications either. Copper is much cheaper than silver and offers about 95% of the conductivity of silver, so it's the most common material to make wire and bus bars from.
Please see Wikipedia for an explanation of conductivity and a chart of the conductivity of some common materials..
Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
July 23, 2016
Q. Why is gold wire used instead of copper for wiring in oceans and seas?
Ganendra Rokaya
- Nepalgunj, Banke, Nepal
July 2016
A. Although it might be a cool idea, Ganendra, because the wire wouldn't corrode if the protective coatings leaked, I seriously doubt that it is actually done. Can you quote an authoritative source that claims it is?
Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
November 26, 2016
Q. I would like to create an electrode for EEG signal acquisition. Which of the copper, silver and gold will stand good for this?
Provakar Mondol
KUET - Khulna, Bangladesh
November 2016
A. Hi Provakar. Gold is more corrosion resistant than copper or silver, and it does not tarnish, which keeps the contact resistance low. So gold is widely used for low voltage, low current contacts -- but I certainly don't know enough about EEGs to suggest that gold is actually appropriate. I think this is a question for doctors or other specialists who do such procedures. Good luck.
Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
January 11, 2017
Q. Why gold is used in laptop mobile and other electronic products?
Vipin kumar
- Allahabad utter pradesh India
January 2017
A. Hi Vipin. That question has been answered repeatedly on this page. If you don't understand the answer, that's not a problem; we can certainly try to explain it differently! But this page attracts everyone from small children in their first couple of years of school to post-doctural researchers -- so we can't understand your situation when you don't explain it but simply repeat an abstract question which has been asked & answered repeatedly already. Thanks!
Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
January 21, 2017
Q. For contact plating purposes what is the best material, silver or copper? I need to reduce oxidation of contact plating. Copper has better abrasion & oxidation property or silver has more if I use these materials in plating purpose to reduce my resistance?
Naresh sharma
- Gurgaon, Haryana, India
January 2017
A. Few seem to have much interest in reading how to fish these days :-(
What voltage and current and frequency is carried by these contacts, Naresh? It's completely possible that neither copper nor silver is appropriate for your contacts. Neither is much good in low voltage low current electronic applications. You'll rarely go wrong with hard gold plating though. Good luck!
Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
January 22, 2017
Q. Hello Sir,
the plating is required in contact and also in PCB. Contacts are moveable objects and PCB is Fixed one. I need to reduce oxidation and abrasion when contact touches the fixed object. Voltage for this circuit is 5 Volt and current varies from 200 mA to 2 Amp. Now contact material is copper. I need to change material because contact wear after some time, and oxidation layer generated between contact and fixed object and contact seems to be open circuit while contact is closed.
Naresh Sharma [returning]
- Gurgaon, Haryana, India
"Electrical Contacts"
by Paul G. Slade
from Abe Books
or
Affil. Link
Your purchases make finishing.com possible
February 2017
A. Hi Naresh. There are whole shelves of books on this subject, and semester courses ... and I am not an electrical engineer. But I do see that the charging contacts on battery operated devices like cordless home phones are invariably nickel plated or electroless nickel plated -- and that sounds like the voltage/current range that you are in. Because it's a high wear application, I suspect that electroless nickel will be ideal.
Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
February 2, 2017
Q. I have a doubt can I calculate the resistance of gold material when it is stretched at certain force? I have connected a voltage a current device to the both ends of the material.
Yuvaraj Murugesan
- trichy, Tamilnadu, India
February 2017
Hi Yuvaraj. That sounds like an interesting question if I understand it. You want to measure the resistance of gold while it is under strong tension or compression load, and see if those forces affect the electrical conductivity? I don't know whether it will have any effect, although my guess is it will be small so you will need accurate measurements to know ... it will be interesting to find out :-)
Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
April 19, 2017
Q. Does anybody know of a good source that lists the electrical conductivity of various surface finishes used on a base aluminum part (not sure if the substrate matters much when concerned with the plating)? This would be conductivity across two points on a single surface. I'm interested in how Electroless Nickel compares to Cad plating, Chem Film, Zinc-Nickel, and even Gold. ....just wondering there if there is "go-to" table that lists comparative values (maybe based on a MIL or Industry spec?) I have had no luck in my search thus far. Thanks!
Matt Kubiak
- Boulder, Colorado USA
November 19, 2017
Q. Hi, I use a very thin silver wire (less than 1 mm dia) to record electric potential from brain of live mice. Signal is very low (in micro volt) produced by external sensory mechanical stimulus.Using amplifier we can record and visualise the different kind of signals. My question is that how can I increase the conductivity of thin silver wire so that I can record very low amplitude signal in small temporal interval? Is there any possibility to use any other material electrode to record few micro volt potential?
For better understanding my question, electrode would be used only for few hours (1-2), and trying to measure a signal as small as possible and as fast as possible.
If my question is clear, Any kind of suggestions are welcome.
Thanks
YUVRAJ Joshi
University of Montpellier - Montpellier, France
October 30, 2017
Q. I AM WRITING A REPORT FOR MY MTECH DEGREE ,I WANTED TO KNOW WHAT ARE ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF USING ALUMINIUM AS AN ELECTRICAL CONTACT AS COMPARED WITH GOLD AND SILVER PLATED ELECTRICAL CONTACTS.
OMKAR JOSHI
- Bangalore ,KARNATAKA , India
October 2017
A. Hi Omkar. Unplated aluminum cannot be used as a contact material because the naturally occurring aluminum oxide on its surface offers too much resistance. It is unsuitable even for house current, let alone low power digital contacts.
Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
January 11, 2018
Q. I would like to know if the electrical connection with silver plating and gold plating is OK to use for High current and Low Current?
Hector Castaneda
n/a - Detroit, Michigan
January 2018
A. Hi Hector. Gold is widely used for very low current digital signals because precious metals don't tarnish, and tarnish in non-conductive. Silver is very widely used for all sorts of less critical applications, and is much cheaper.
If you can tell us the actual parameters you are designing for, it's possible that our readers can offer specific advice. If you are looking for more general info, if you Google "electrical contact design course" you will see that there are any number of seminars and courses you can attend on contact design. Good luck.
Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
finishing.com is made possible by ...
this text gets replaced with bannerText
(No "dead threads" here! If this page isn't currently on the Hotline your Q, A, or Comment will restore it)
Q, A, or Comment on THIS thread -or- Start a NEW Thread
Disclaimer: It's not possible to fully diagnose a finishing problem or the hazards of an operation via these pages. All information presented is for general reference and does not represent a professional opinion nor the policy of an author's employer. The internet is largely anonymous & unvetted; some names may be fictitious and some recommendations might be harmful.
If you are seeking a product or service related to metal finishing, please check these Directories:
FAQs
Gold, Silver, Copper, Aluminum -- which is the better electrical conductor? ›
“Silver is the best conductor of electricity because it contains a higher number of movable atoms (free electrons). For a material to be a good conductor, the electricity passed through it must be able to move the electrons; the more free electrons in a metal, the greater its conductivity.
Which is the best conductor of electricity Aluminium copper or silver? ›Silver has an electrical conductivity of 6.30×107 S/m which is greatest for any known substance thus making it the best conductor of electricity.
Which is the best conductor of electricity answer? ›- Silver is the best conductor of electricity, as the metal has more free electrons to transfer electric energy.
- Higher the number of free electrons more efficient the metal to conduct electricity.
The most electrically conductive element is silver, followed by copper and gold. Silver also has the highest thermal conductivity of any element and the highest light reflectance.
Is gold or silver a better conductor of electricity? ›Silver has the highest electrical conductivity of all metals. In fact, silver defines conductivity - all other metals are compared against it. On a scale of 0 to 100, silver ranks 100, with copper at 97 and gold at 76.
What are the 3 best conductors of electricity? ›- Silver. The best conductor of electricity is pure silver, but to no surprise, it is not one of the most commonly used metals to conduct electricity. ...
- Copper. One of the most commonly used metals to conduct electricity is copper. ...
- Aluminum.
Gold is said to be one of the best conductor of electricity. Unlike other metals, gold does not tarnish easily when we expose it to air. On the other hands, other metals like steel or copper corrode when they are in contact with oxygen for a long time. Moreover, it also stays conductive for a longer period.
Which is best conductor of electricity copper or aluminium? ›Copper is a better conductor as compared to aluminum, aluminium is about 40% less conductive than copper.
What are the four best conductor of electricity? ›Copper, silver, aluminum, gold, steel, and brass are common conductors of electricity. The most highly conductive metals are silver, copper, and gold.
What are the strongest conductors? ›The most highly conductive metals are silver, copper and gold. Copper, for example, is highly conductive and commonly used in metal wiring. Brass, on the other hand, contains copper but other materials in its makeup reduce conductivity. Pure silver is the most conductive of all metals.
Which is a better conductor silver or aluminum? ›
For example, silver (Ag), with only one free electron per atom, is a better conductor than aluminum (Al), with three, because the higher mobility of silver's free electrons compensates for their fewness.
Is copper or gold a better conductor? ›The electrical conductivity of copper is slightly higher at 5.96 x107 S/m than gold which is 4.11×107 S/m.
Which is a better conductor of electricity copper or silver? ›Hence, silver is a better conductor than copper.
Is aluminium a good conductor of electricity? ›Aluminium is a good conductor but not best. Silver is the best conductor. Silver has approx 6 % more conductivity than copper. Aluminium has less conductivity than both But due to low density, low cost and high resistance to corrosion Aluminium is preferred.
Is silver the best conductor of electricity yes or no? ›Metals are good conductors of electricity because of the presence of free electrons which act as charge carriers. Silver is a metal so it is a good conductor of electricity.
Is copper a good conductor of electricity? ›And since copper wire has a low level of resistivity, it's a fantastic electrical conductor.
Which metal is the best conductor of electricity iron copper silver aluminium? ›Therefore, silver is the best conductor.
Which is better for electricity copper or aluminum? ›Copper is the preferred wiring for your home over aluminum because of its ease of use and ability to effectively conduct electricity. It is more stable, durable, and performs better than aluminum wires. Copper is known to have better Conductivity than Aluminium.
Why silver is best conductor than copper? ›Silver has the highest thermal conductivity among all the metals. Copper has the second highest thermal conductivity. Silver is a good conductor of heat than the copper because the electron can move more freely in silver as compared to the copper. The thermal conductivity of silver is higher than that of the copper.