ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area Volts, Amps, & Ohms

Cool, some Electrophysics stuff!

It has been a few Eons for me, so please bare with my Short-Term memory loss problems!

Well, first off - one statements has to be made:
"Virtually ALL Substances, in Solid or Liquid State, posses the property of Electrical Conductivity - in some degree"

Some are very efficient Conductors (meaning the greater the density of current for a given potential difference, the more efficient the conductor is said to be),
while others are very efficient Insulators (Non-Conductors, or higher the density of current at a given potential difference, the less efficient they are at conducting).
Some are right between these extremes - and are said to be "Semiconductors".

Basic Theory describes that Atomic Structures with at least 1 *"Free"* Electron in the outermost shell, will act as Conductors (the free electron is bounced between Atoms, etc...).
How much Energy is required to achieve this is another issue

Typical Efficient Conductors are Metallic - and include substances such as Silver, Copper, Aluminum, Iron, Nickel, Cobalt, Zinc, Gold, Calcium, etc.
Some substances are "Semiconducting", such as Silicon, Germanium, Sodium, Chlorine, Arsenic, etc., while other substances are efficient Insulators - such as Hydrogen and Oxygen.

Elements which are thought of as "Unstable" (Uranium, for example), have many free Electrons in many shells - and are very large Elements too.
They lose "Free" Electrons in natural states (without any intentional influences).

The Curies (sp???) discovered the Element "Radium", due to how the "Free" Electrons caused an effect in the Fog, when they flew away.
The effect looked like tiny Comets in the light Fog.

Back to Electricity!

As mentioned, we use Efficient Conductors for doing the job of carrying Electrical Energy (the complete package) from Generating Source, to desired Load Device.
Energy is Transported along the Efficient Conductors by taking advantage of "Free", or "Unbound" Majority Charge Carriers.
This would include an Electron going forward, falling into a "Hole", which goes backward (just including directions for simplicity).

Any opposition to the free transference of this results in a given level of "Work" being done.
This covers Voltage Drop, Losses, and actual Power Transduction at the intended Load Device.

To eliminate major loss of Smoke , Insulators are used to keep things in check.
These are efficient "Non-Conductors", but are still Conductive to some extent.
They allow a very small level of flow to take place, and act more like Dielectric substances than Insulators (i.e. Capacitive Coupling, Line Charging, etc.).

Semiconductive substances conduct efficiently in one certain direction, and poorly in the opposite direction (flow directions).
They may also work better with certain Majority Charge Carriers - like the way Salt does (Na Cl).
One Element conducts Negative Charges easily, the other conducts Positive Charges easily.
The two Elements bound together become a complete charge carrier.

I've gotta take off now, let me know if we should carry on with this discussion!

Scott35