Hi and welcome to Metal Supermarkets, the convenience stores for metal.
I'm Jason Jackson, Operations and Development Manager.
For any electrical application, it is important to know which metals conduct electricity.
That will be the topic of this video blog.
Electrical conductivity is the measured amount of current generation created on a metal surface.
More simply,  it is the measure of how easily an electrical current can flow through a metal.
While many metals can conduct electricity
certain metals are far more conductive, and therefore, more commonly used in electrical applications.
Most people believe that copper is the most conductive metal
as it is so commonly used for wiring in homes and household electronics.
but you may be surprised that copper is actually the second most conductive metal.
it is also commonly believed that gold is the most conductive,
but while it does have a relatively high conductive rating it is actually ranked third behind copper.
Brass, despite containing copper, is not a great electrical conductor.
Aluminum, which used to be used more frequently in in electrical applications, is ranked below gold.
So, which metal conducts electricity the best?
The answer is pure silver.
The reason why silver is not more commonly used for electrical applications is because it can tarnish.
This can be a problem in applications where skin effect is important,
such as with high frequency currents.
It is also more expensive than copper and the slight increase in conductivity,
is simply not worth the added cost.
You can see here how some of the more conductive metals rank
based on the International Annealed Copper Standard.
If you need a conductive metal like copper or aluminum for your next project
Metal Supermarkets is the world's
largest supplier of small quantity metals
carrying over 8,000 types, shapes and grades of metal
Cut to size and ready fast!
