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10.3: Conductivity of Some Common Materials

Last updated

Jul 7, 2024
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- 10.2: Permeability of Some Common Materials
- 10.4: Mathematical Formulas - Trigonometry

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The values below are conductivity $\sigma$ for a few materials that are commonly encountered in electrical engineering applications, and for which conductivity emerges as a consideration.

Note that materials in some applications are described instead in terms of resistivity, which is simply the reciprocal of conductivity.

Conductivity may vary significantly as a function of frequency. The values below are representative of frequencies from a few kHz to a few GHz. Conductivity also varies as a function of temperature. In applications where precise values are required, primary references accounting for frequency and temperature should be consulted. The values presented here are gathered from a variety of references, including those indicated in “Additional References” at the end of this section.

(vacuum): $\sigma\triangleq 0$ .

Figure $\PageIndex{1}$ : Commonly encountered elements:
Material	$\sigma$ (S/m)
Copper	$5.8\times 10^7$
Gold	$4.4\times 10^7$
Aluminum	$3.7\times 10^7$
Iron	$1.0\times 10^7$
Platinum	$0.9\times 10^7$
Carbon	$1.3\times 10^5$
Silicon	$4.4\times 10^{-4}$

exhibits $\sigma$ ranging from about $6~\mu$ S/m for highly distilled water (thus, a very poor conductor) to about $5$ S/m for seawater (thus, a relatively good conductor), varying also with temperature and pressure. Tap water is typically in the range 5–50 mS/m, depending on the level of impurities present.

typically exhibits $\sigma$ in the range $10^{-4}$ S/m for dry soil to about $10^{-1}$ S/m for wet soil, varying also due to chemical composition.

. Most other materials that are not well-described as conductors or semiconductors and are dry exhibit $\sigma < 10^{-12}$ S/m. Most materials that are considered to be insulators, including air and common dielectrics, exhibit $\sigma < 10^{-15}$ S/m, often by several orders of magnitude.

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