types of materials according to their electrical behavior ty

Solution

Materials are classified based on their electrical properties as conductors, semiconductors and insulators. New to this group is super conductors.

Electrical conductivity of a material is defined in terms of ease of charge flow through it.

Charge that flows comprised of either electrons, ions, charged holes, and their combinations.

Ohm’s law relates the current and applied voltage: V = IR where V – applied voltage (volts) I – current (amperes) R – resistance (ohms)

Material’s electric resistance is NOT an intrinsic-property i.e. it depends on object geometry

Electrical resistivity, defined as follows, is an intrinsic property, inverse of which called conductivity

Either conductivity / resistivity can be used to classify materials.

Conductivity of solid engineering material is observed to vary over 27 orders of power.

Based on their conductivity, materials are classified as: conductors, semiconductors, and insulators. Conductors > 107 (-m)-1 Semiconductors 10-6 - 104 (-m)-1 Insulators < 10-10(-m)-1