Electrical Conductivity

Electrical conductivity measures the ease with which an electric current can pass through a medium. It is the reciprocal of the resistivity. Alternatively, it is the quantity of electric charge transferred across a unit area, per unit potential gradient (voltage), per unit time.

Values were obtained by mathematical conversion of the resistivities reported in the 15th edition of LANGE'S HANDBOOK OF CHEMISTRY, J.A. Dean, Ed., McGraw-Hill, 1999. Data from LANGE'S HANDBOOK OF CHEMISTRY was collected online at:

http://www.knovel.com/knovel2/Toc.jsp?SpaceID=10093&BookID=47 (accessed July, 2002)

For some elements, such as carbon in the form of graphite, electrical conductivity is anisotropic--it differs when measured in different directions. The electrical conductance of graphite is 3.7/(mohm-cm) in the plane of the hexagonal layers of carbon atoms, but is 0.0017/(mohm-cm) perpendicular to those layers. This can complicate measurements of electrical conductivity (see THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY). The above sources do not mention this problem, and report electrical resistivities as a single value for each element.