In addition, Compared to copper silver has only slightly less resistivity (5%) however it has a higher density so on a resistivity to mass basis the two are roughly identical. Copper is also more malleable and ductile than silver and can be shaped easier and put under stress without damage. Twists and kinks in silver wire are more likely to result in cracks.
Aluminum has the lowest mass and that is why they use it for power lines. Sent from my iPad > On Apr 14, 2016, at 11:11 AM, Lee Hart via EV <[email protected]> wrote: > > Willie2 via EV wrote: >>> On 04/14/2016 03:56 AM, EVDL Administrator via EV wrote: >>>> On 14 Apr 2016 at 0:06, brucedp5 via EV wrote: >>>> >>>> Copper remains the best electrical conductor available >>> Nope, that would be silver. >>> >>> Now, if you consider cost-effectiveness, that's another matter. But >>> that's >>> not what the man said. >> What he said (or was quoted as saying): >> >> “Copper remains the best electrical conductor available and this will be >> more and more important in a world where energy efficiency is a priority,” >> >> "Available" can easily be taken to mean "feasible in cost". In that >> sense, super conductors are not available just as silver is not. "Best" >> can also be taken to mean "least costly". >> >> Which brings to mind aluminum. As I understand, aluminum is "better" >> than copper in that it moves more power with lower weight and cost. > > Indeed, it gets complicated when you start defining "best" as "cheapest". > With that criteria, even steel could be considered the "best" conductor, > since it is so much cheaper than copper aluminum that its ohms per dollar is > better. > > Notice that automobiles and trucks routinely use the steel car body as their > electrical ground return. It's also very common to find steel lead wires in > electrical components (resistors, capacitors, ICs, terminals) -- you can pick > them up with a magnet! > > Since steel has around 4 times the resistance, you need about 4 times more of > it to do the same job. That's OK... it's 1/10th the price. :-) > > -- > A good scientist is a person with original ideas. A good engineer is > a person who makes a design that works with as few original ideas as > possible. There are no prima donnas in engineering. -- Freeman Dyson > -- > Lee Hart, 814 8th Ave N, Sartell MN 56377, www.sunrise-ev.com > _______________________________________________ > UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub > http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org > Read EVAngel's EV News at http://evdl.org/evln/ > Please discuss EV drag racing at NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA) > _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org Read EVAngel's EV News at http://evdl.org/evln/ Please discuss EV drag racing at NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
