Properties Of Materials & Electric Current - Electric Fields In Material Space.
- Electric field can not only exist in free space and vacuum but also in any material medium. - When an electric field is applied to the material, the material will modify the electric field either by strengthening it or weakening it, depending on what kind of material it is. - Materials are classified into 3 groups based on conductivity / electrical property: - Conductors (Metals like Copper, Aluminum, etc.) have high conductivity (σ >> 1). - Insulators / Dielectric (Vacuum, Glass, Rubber, etc.) have low conductivity (σ << 1). - Semiconductors (Silicon, Germanium, etc.) have intermediate conductivity . - Conductivity (σ) is a measure of the ability of the material to conduct electricity . It is the reciprocal of resistivity (ρ). - Units of conductivity are Siemens/meter and mho. - ...