Scribd Logo
Upload

Welcome to Scribd!

  • 939 views

    Electrical Properties of Solids

    Uploaded by

    stephen james
    The document discusses the electrical properties of solids, dividing them into three categories: conductors, semiconductors, and insulators. Conductors like metals allow electric currents to flow through them easily due to free-flowing electrons. Insulators do not conduct electricity well and are used to insulate conductors. Semiconductors can conduct electricity under certain conditions, such as an increase in temperature or the addition of impurities to make them extrinsic semiconductors.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Electrical Properties of Solids

    Uploaded by

    stephen james
    939 views4 pages
    The document discusses the electrical properties of solids, dividing them into three categories: conductors, semiconductors, and insulators. Conductors like metals allow electric currents to flow through them easily due to free-flowing electrons. Insulators do not conduct electricity well and are used to insulate conductors. Semiconductors can conduct electricity under certain conditions, such as an increase in temperature or the addition of impurities to make them extrinsic semiconductors.

    Original Description:

    Electrical Properties of Solids

    Copyright

    © © All Rights Reserved

    Available Formats

    DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Did you find this document useful?

    Is this content inappropriate?

    The document discusses the electrical properties of solids, dividing them into three categories: conductors, semiconductors, and insulators. Conductors like metals allow electric currents to flow through them easily due to free-flowing electrons. Insulators do not conduct electricity well and are used to insulate conductors. Semiconductors can conduct electricity under certain conditions, such as an increase in temperature or the addition of impurities to make them extrinsic semiconductors.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    939 views4 pages

    Electrical Properties of Solids

    Uploaded by

    stephen james
    The document discusses the electrical properties of solids, dividing them into three categories: conductors, semiconductors, and insulators. Conductors like metals allow electric currents to flow through them easily due to free-flowing electrons. Insulators do not conduct electricity well and are used to insulate conductors. Semiconductors can conduct electricity under certain conditions, such as an increase in temperature or the addition of impurities to make them extrinsic semiconductors.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    You are on page 1of 4

    Electrical Properties of Solids

    We are aware of the physical properties of solids. Like the fact that they
    have a definite shape and volume. But the electrical properties of solids
    vary largely based on their composition and chemical structure. They
    are divided into three groups – conductors, semiconductors,
    and insulators. Let us study these further.

    Electrical Properties of Solids


    Now the electrical property of a substance is a reference to its
    conductivity. Electric Conductivity of a substance is defined as its
    ability to transmit heat energy or electric energy (and in some cases also
    sound energy). So a good conductor of electricity is easily able to
    transmit the energy without boiling or melting or changing its
    composition in any way.

    Solids have varying degrees of conductivity i.e. all solids do not have
    uniform electrical properties. Actually, solids can be divided into three
    broad categories based on their electrical conductivity. These three
    groups are as follows,

    Conductors
    Broadly speaking, conductors are solids that have good electrical
    conductivity. They allow heat energy and electric currents to transmit
    through them with ease and speed. Conductors allow this transfer of
    energy to happen via free flow of electrons from atom to atom. They
    have the ability to carry this energy throughout themselves even when
    the current is only applied to one part of their body.

    All metals are known to be the best conductors. Their conductivity


    depends on the number of valence electrons of their atoms. These
    electrons are not closely bound together and can move
    freely. Metals have such electrons in their atoms, and so they conduct
    heat and electricity so well. Metals allow the electric field to transmit
    through them in conductivities order of 106 – 108 ohm-1.

    Insulators

    Stark opposite to conductors, insulators are materials that absolutely do


    not conduct any electric energy or currents. They do not let any (or very
    little) electric charge flow through them. They have a significant band
    gap which prevents the flow of electricity. Some examples are glass,
    wood, plastics, rubber etc.

    Since insulators are very bad conductors they have another use. We use
    them to insulate conductors and semiconductors. For example, you must
    have seen copper wires with a covering of plastic or some form of
    polymers. They protect the wires and cables without allowing the
    electric current to go through them. This is insulation of the wire.
    Semiconductors
    Semiconductors are the go-between conductors and insulators. These
    are solids that have the ability to conduct electricity through them but
    only under certain conditions. There are two such conditions that affect
    the ability of semiconductors to conduct energy, heat, and impurities.

     Intrinsic Semiconductor: These are pure materials with no impurities


    added, so they are known as undoped semiconductors. Here we
    apply thermal energy to the material and create vacancies in the
    valence bands. This allows the energy to pass through. And yet these
    are not very good conductors and find very limited applications
     Extrinsic Semiconductors: These are doped semiconductors. We add
    certain impurities to increase the conductivity of the materials.
    There are two types of extrinsic semiconductor, namely n-type and
    p-type. Examples are when we boost the conductivity of silicon and
    germanium by this method.
    One reason why semiconductors are an important material is that we
    have control over their conductivity. This is why they find many
    applications, especially in electronics.

    Solved Question for You


    Q: Conductivity of semiconductor increases with increase in
    temperature. True or False?

    Ans; The given statement is True.

     Intrinsic semiconductor; conductivity goes up or resistivity goes


    down with temperature goes up.
     Heavily doped conductivity turns up again or resistivity goes down
    with temperature goes up.

    You might also like

    pFad - Phonifier reborn

    Pfad - The Proxy pFad of © 2024 Garber Painting. All rights reserved.

    Note: This service is not intended for secure transactions such as banking, social media, email, or purchasing. Use at your own risk. We assume no liability whatsoever for broken pages.


    Alternative Proxies:

    Alternative Proxy

    pFad Proxy

    pFad v3 Proxy

    pFad v4 Proxy