Electrical conductivity

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Electrical conductivity or specific conductance is a measure of a material's ability to conduct an electric current. When an electrical potential difference is placed across a conductor, its movable charges flow, giving rise to an electric current. The conductivity σ is defined as the ratio of the current density to the electric field strength :

It is also possible to have materials in which the conductivity is anisotropic, in which case σ is a 3×3 matrix (or more technically a rank-2 tensor) which is generally symmetric.

Conductivity is the reciprocal (inverse) of electrical resistivity, ρ, and has the SI units of siemens per metre (S·m-1):

Electrical conductivity is commonly represented by the Greek letter σ, but κ (esp. in electrical engineering science) or γ are also occasionally used.

An EC meter is normally used to measure conductivity in a solution.

For more information about Electrical conductivity, read the full article at Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.


News tagged with electrical conductivity

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solar cells

Carbon nanotubes may cheaply harvest sunlight

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

created Oct 19, 2009 | popularity 3.4 / 5 (9) | comments 1

(PhysOrg.com) -- A new alternative energy technology relies on the element most associated with climate change: carbon.


Gold solution for enhancing nanocrystal electrical conductance

Gold solution for enhancing nanocrystal electrical conductance

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

created Sep 10, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 1

In a development that holds much promise for the future of solar cells made from nanocrystals, and the use of solar energy to produce clean and renewable liquid transportation fuels, researchers with the U.S. ...


Water in Earth's mantle may be associated with subduction

Water in Earth's mantle may be associated with subduction

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Aug 19, 2009 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (10) | comments 3

A team of scientists from Oregon State University has created the first global three-dimensional map of electrical conductivity in the Earth's mantle and their model suggests that that enhanced conductivity ...


Liquid-OLED Offers More Light-Emitting Possibilities

Liquid-OLED Offers More Light-Emitting Possibilities

Physics / General Physics

created Aug 14, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (17) | comments 1

(PhysOrg.com) -- As organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) are poised to go mainstream in the near future, scientists continue to explore new twists on the technology. Recently, researchers have fabricated ...


Modelling nano-worlds

Technology / Semiconductors

created Aug 10, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Modelling the fabrication processes for integrated circuits can slash production development time and costs by up to 40%. But as transistors, already at nano-scales, become ever smaller, researchers are modelling ...


Ripe pineapple and delicious pork

Ripe pineapple and delicious pork

Technology / Engineering

created Aug 03, 2009 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (3) | comments 0

Customers want fresh food, which is neither unripe nor spoiled. A new system based on metal oxide sensors could check the safety and quality of foods reliably, quickly and economically -- such as how ripe ...


New instrument has potential to detect water deep underground on Mars

New instrument has potential to detect water deep underground on Mars (w/ Video)

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Jun 24, 2009 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (3) | comments 1

(PhysOrg.com) -- With the whoosh of compressed gas and the whir of unspooling wire, a team of Boulder scientists and engineers tested a new instrument prototype that might be used to detect groundwater deep ...


Discovery could help electronics industry enter new phase

Nanotechnology / Nanophysics

created Jun 17, 2009 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (10) | comments 0

Electronic devices of the future could be smaller, faster, more powerful and consume less energy because of a discovery by researchers at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory.


'Colossal' Magnetic Effect Under Pressure

'Colossal' Magnetic Effect Under Pressure

Physics / General Physics

created Jun 05, 2009 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (23) | comments 3

(PhysOrg.com) -- Millions of people today carry around pocket-sized music players capable of holding thousands of songs, thanks to the discovery 20 years ago of a phenomenon known as the “giant magnetoresistance ...


EarthTalk: What is 'nanotechnology'?

Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine

created May 25, 2009 | popularity 3 / 5 (5) | comments 4

Dear EarthTalk: What is "nanotechnology"? I've heard that nanoparticles are already in consumer products, yet we haven't really studied their potential health impacts. (Dan Zeff, San Francisco)


Engineers create DNA sensors that could identify cancer using material only one atom thick

New DNA sensors could identify cancer using graphene

Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine

created Apr 13, 2009 | popularity 4.2 / 5 (5) | comments 1

Kansas State University engineers think the possibilities are deep for a very thin material.


Engineers develop method to disperse chemically modified graphene in organic solvents

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

created Mar 31, 2009 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (5) | comments 0

A method for creating dispersed and chemically modified graphene sheets in a wide variety of organic solvents has been developed by a University of Texas at Austin engineering team led by Professor Rod Ruoff, opening the ...


Paper electrified by copper particles

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

created Mar 16, 2009 | popularity 2 / 5 (1) | comments 0

The Polymer Chemistry Research Group at the University of Helsinki, Finland, has succeeded in producing nano-sized metallic copper particles. When the size of particles is reduced to a nano-scale (one nanometre being one ...


Intelligent use of the Earth's heat

Intelligent use of the Earth's heat

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Feb 27, 2009 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (8) | comments 1

Geothermal energy is increasingly contributing to the power supply world wide. Iceland is world-leader in expanding development of geothermal utilization: in recent years the annual power supply here doubled ...


Batteries get a (nano)boost

Nanotechnology / Nanophysics

created Feb 09, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (12) | comments 1

Need to store electricity more efficiently? Put it behind bars. That's essentially the finding of a team of Rice University researchers who have created hybrid carbon nanotube metal oxide arrays as electrode material that ...