Article
Article
Conduction (electricity)
Article By:
Conwell, Esther M. Xerox Webster Research Center, Rochester, New York.
Last reviewed:January 2020
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.155600
The passage of electric charges due to a force exerted on them by an electric field. Conductivity is the measure of the ability of a conductor to carry electric current; it is defined as the ratio of the amount of charge passing through unit area of the conductor (perpendicular to the current direction) per second divided by the electric field intensity (the force on a unit charge). Conductivity is the reciprocal of resistivity and is therefore commonly expressed in units of siemens per meter, abbreviated S/m. See also: Electrical resistivity
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