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- 21-3 Conductors and Insulators
- Electric Charges in Solids
- When atoms of a conductor come together to form the solid, some of their outermost (and so most loosely held) electrons become free, leaving behind positively charged atoms.
- In macroscopic solids, nuclei often arrange themselves into a regular pattern called a “Crystal Lattice”.
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- Depending on “How They Move” the solid can be classified by its “Electrical Properties” as an Insulator or a Conductor. We call the mobile electrons as conduction electrons.
- Conductors are materials through which charge can move freely; examples include metals (such as copper in common lamp wire), the human body, and tap water.
- Red Circles = Static Positive Charge (Nuclei)
- Electrons move around this lattice.
- Under Applied Potential Difference V
- PHY102 Physics II © Dr.Cem Özdoğan
- Blue Background = Mobile Electrons
- Forming a “Sea” of electrons. This is why metals conduct electricity.