Effect of Material

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Effect of Material

Substances, which allow electric current to flow through them, are called conductors. Those, which do not, are called insulators. Metals behave as conductors because of their structure. In a metal structure the metal atoms release their outermost electrons to form an “electron cloud” throughout the whole structure.  In other words the atoms in a metal exist as ions surrounded by an electron cloud. If a potential difference is applied to the metal the electrons in this cloud are able to move.

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Some conductors are better than others. Copper is a conductor than iron. When the electrons are moving through the metal structure they bump into the metal ions and this causes resistance to the electron flow or current. In different conductors the ease of flow of the electrons is different and so the conductors have different resistance.

For a particular conductor the resistance will depend on its length and cross-sectional area. The longer the conductor, the further the electrons have to travel, the more likely they are to have ...

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