Name the best conducter of electricity?

Answer 1

The answer to this question depends very much on what you want to do - and how much money you want to spend to do it !

Copper is very good as a conductor (of both electricity and heat) and is not as expensive as silver or gold. However copper oxidizes and tarnishes badly if it is exposed to air and/or water and it also very easily "pits" - meaning it burns away, leaving holes and craters - if any sparks or electric arcs are caused to form on its surface. That means pure copper is no good for use to make contacts for electrical switches.

Silver is perhaps the best conductor of electricity but it is expensive and oxidizes and tarnishes if exposed to air, and/or water, and "pits" if any sparks or electric arcs are caused to form on its surface. So, like copper, pure silver is no good for use to make contacts for electrical switches. However silver can be used to make very good contacts in electrical connectors and, if it is alloyed with other metals, good switch contacts .

Gold is a very good conductor. Its main benefit is that it does not oxidize or tarnish if exposed to air and/or water, so it is often used to make the contacts in electrical connectors and, if it is alloyed with other metals, good contacts in electrical switches .

The main disadvantage of using gold either for wires or for switch contacts is that it is in such great demand worldwide for many other uses (including jewellery) that it is very expensive.

Because gold is such a good conductor - and is very soft and malleable, and easy to bond to other materials - it is often used as a very thin gold plating on top of cheaper and more rigid, springy metals or metal alloys (such as hardened brass) to make contacts in electrical connectors and switches.

Because it can be made into extremely thin wires which don't break easily and have very low resistance to the flow of electric current, gold is also used to make the connections between the connection pads on the chips inside integrated circuit modules and their external connecting pins.

Another opinion

There are numerous materials classed as superconductorsbecause of their property of zero electric resistance, such as bismuth-strontium-calcium-copper-oxides and yttrium-barium-copper-oxide; any of them could be considered the "best" conductor.
I would guess it is probably one of the rare earth metals, but they are too rare and expensive to actually be used for that purpose.

We use copper because it is a good compromize: good enough conductor and inexpensive. Silver is a better conductor but too expensive. Aluminum is a good conductor and inexpensive, but its oxide is an insulator and has been known to cause house fires. Gold is not quite as good a conductor as copper, is more expensive than silver, but does not oxidize.

Answer 2

Metals are very good conductors; silver is one of the best, followed by copper. Superconductors are materials that are cooled to extremely low temperatures, and have zero resistance. Among these, there would be ten examples of the best conductors. See the related links for more. Contrary to popular belief, pure water is actually a terrible conductor.

Answer 3

Metal and citrus are the best conductors of electricity.

Answer 4

silver