TABLE OF CONTENT
CONTENTS PAGE
Title Page – – – – – – – – i
Certification – – – – – – – ii
Dedication – – – – – – – – iii
Acknowledgements – – – – – – iv
Table of Contents – – – – – – – vi
CHAPTER ONE
- INTRODUCTION – – – – – 1
CHAPTER TWO
- THEORY OF RESISTIVITY – – – – 4
- Causes of Resistivity – – – – – 7
- Band Theory simplified – – – – – 7
- Metal – – – – – – – – 8
- Semi – conductors and insulators – – – 10
- Ionic liquid/electrolytes – – – – – 11
- Super conductivity – – – – – – 12
- Resistivity and conductivity of various materials – 14
- Causes of Resistivity – – – – – 7
CHAPTER THREE
- COMPLEX RESISTIVITY AND CONDUCTIVITY 17
- Resistivity – density product – – – – 18
- Application of Resistivity – – – – 20
CHAPTER FOUR
- SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND REFERENCES 24
- Summary and Conclusion – – – – 24
References
CHAPTER ONE
1.0 INTRODUCTION
Electrical resistivity (also called specific electrical resistance or volume resistivity) is a fundamental property of a material that measures how strongly it resists electric current. Its inverse, called electrical conductivity, quantifies how well a material conducts electricity. A low resistivity indicates a material that readily allows electric current. Resistivity is commonly represented by the Greek letter ρ (rho). The SI unit of electrical resistivity is the ohm-meter (Ω⋅m) (Lowerie, 2007; Kumar, 2003; Bogattin, 2004). For example, if a 1 m solid cube of material has sheet contacts on two opposite faces, and the resistance between these contacts is 1 Ω, then the resistivity of the material is 1 Ωm (Kumar, 2003).
Electrical conductivity or specific conductance is the reciprocal of electrical resistivity. It represents a material’s ability to conduct electric current. It is commonly signified by the Greek letter σ (sigma), but κ (kappa) (especially in electrical engineering) and γ (gamma) are sometimes used. The SI unit of electrical conductivity is siemens per metre (S/m).