ACES Int'l

Secrets & Tips

for Electronics:

Conductors, Semiconductors and Insulators
(Page 2)

  Some metals are better conductors of electricity than others. Silver, copper, gold, and aluminum are materials with many free electrons and make good conductors. Silver is the best conductor, followed by copper, gold, and aluminum. Copper is used more often than silver because of cost. Aluminum is used where weight is a major consideration, such as in high-tension power lines, with long spans between supports. Gold is used where oxidation or corrosion is a consideration and a good conductivity is required. The ability of a conductor to handle current also depends upon its physical dimensions. Conductors are usually found in the form of wire, but may be in the form of bars, tubes, or sheets.

  Nonconductors have few free electrons. These materials are called INSULATORS. Some examples of these materials are rubber, plastic, enamel, glass, dry wood, and mica. Just as there is no perfect conductor, neither is there a perfect insulator.

  Some materials are neither good conductors nor good insulators, since their electrical characteristics fall between those of conductors and insulators. These in-between materials are classified as SEMICONDUCTORS. Germanium and silicon are two common semiconductors used in solid-state devices.

ELECTROSTATICS

  Electrostatics (electricity at rest) is a subject with which most persons entering the field of electricity and electronics are somewhat familiar. For example, the way a person's hair stands on end after a vigorous rubbing is an effect of electrostatics. While pursuing the study of electrostatics, you will gain a better understanding of this common occurrence. Of even greater significance, the study of electrostatics will provide you with the opportunity to gain important background knowledge and to develop concepts which are essential to the understanding of electricity and electronics.

  Interest in the subject of static electricity can be traced back to the Greeks. Thales of Miletus, a Greek philosopher and mathematician, discovered that when an amber rod is rubbed with fur, the rod has the amazing characteristic of attracting some very light objects such as bits of paper and shavings of wood.

  About 1600, William Gilbert, an English scientist, made a study of other substances which had been found to possess qualities of attraction similar to amber. Among these were glass, when rubbed with silk, and ebonite, when rubbed with fur. Gilbert classified all the substances which possessed properties similar to those of amber as electrics, a word of Greek origin meaning amber.

  Because of Gilbert's work with electrics, a substance such as amber or glass when given a vigorous rubbing was recognized as being ELECTRIFIED, or CHARGED with electricity.

  In the year 1733, Charles Dufay, a French scientist, made an important discovery about electrification. He found that when a glass was rubbed with fur, both the glass rod and the fur became electrified. This realization came when he systematically placed the glass rod and the fur near other electrified substances and found that certain substances which were attracted to the glass rod were repelled by the fur, and vice versa. From experiments such as this, he concluded that there must be two exactly opposite kinds of electricity.

  Benjamin Franklin, American statesman, inventor, and philosopher, is credited with first using the terms POSITIVE and NEGATIVE to describe the two opposite kinds of electricity. The charge produced on a glass rod when it is rubbed with silk, Franklin labeled positive. He attached the term negative to the charge produced on the silk. Those bodies which were not electrified or charged, he called NEUTRAL.

STATIC ELECTRICITY

  In a natural, or neutral state, each atom in a body of matter will have the proper number of electrons in orbit around it. Consequently, the whole body of matter composed of the neutral atoms will also be electrically neutral. In this state, it is said to have a "zero charge." Electrons will neither leave nor enter the neutrally charged body should it come in contact with other neutral bodies. If, however, any number of electrons are removed from the atoms of a body of matter, there will remain more protons than electrons and the whole body of matter will become ELECTRICALLY POSITIVE. Should the positively charged body come in contact with another body having a normal charge, or having a NEGATIVE (too many electrons) charge, an electric current will flow between them. Electrons will leave the more negative body and enter the positive body. This electron flow will continue until both bodies have equal charges. When two bodies of matter have unequal charges and are near one another, an electric force is exerted between them because of their unequal charges. However, since they are not in contact, their charges cannot equalize. The existence of such an electric force, where current cannot flow, is referred to as static electricity. ("Static" in this instance means "not moving.") It is also referred to as an electrostatic force.

  One of the easiest ways to create a static charge is by friction. When two pieces of matter are rubbed together, electrons can be "wiped off" one material onto the other. If the materials used are good conductors, it is quite difficult to obtain a detectable charge on either, since equalizing currents can flow easily between the conducting materials. These currents equalize the charges almost as fast as they are created. A static charge is more easily created between nonconducting materials. When a hard rubber rod is rubbed with fur, the rod will accumulate electrons given up by the fur, as shown in Figure 1. Since both materials are poor conductors, very little equalizing current can flow, and an electrostatic charge builds up. When the charge becomes great enough, current will flow regardless of the poor conductivity of the materials. These currents will cause visible sparks and produce a crackling sound.

Figure 1

Nature of Charges

  When in a natural, or neutral state, an atom has an equal number of electrons and protons. Because of this balance, the net negative charge of the electrons in orbit is exactly balanced by the net positive charge of the protons in the nucleus, making the atom electrically neutral.

  An atom becomes a positive ion whenever it loses an electron, and has an overall positive charge. Conversely, whenever an atom acquires an extra electron, it becomes a negative ion and has a negative charge.

  Due to normal molecular activity, there are always ions present in any material. If the number of positive ions and negative ions is equal, the material is electrically neutral. When the number of positive ions exceeds the number of negative ions, the material is positively charged. The material is negatively charged whenever the negative ions outnumber the positive ions.

  Since ions are actually atoms without their normal number of electrons, it is the excess or the lack of electrons in a substance that determines its charge. In most solids, the transfer of charges is by movement of electrons rather than ions. The transfer of charges by ions will become more significant when we consider electrical activity in liquids and gases. At this time, we will discuss electrical behavior in terms of electron movement.

Charged Bodies

  One of the fundamental laws of electricity is that LIKE CHARGES REPEL EACH OTHER and UNLIKE CHARGES ATTRACT EACH OTHER. A positive charge and negative charge, being unlike, tend to move toward each other. In the atom, the negative electrons are drawn toward the positive protons in the nucleus. This attractive force is balanced by the electron's centrifugal force caused by its rotation about the nucleus. As a result, the electrons remain in orbit and are not drawn into the nucleus. Electrons repel each other because of their like negative charges, and protons repel each other because of their like positive charges.

  The law of charged bodies may be demonstrated by a simple experiment. Two paper pulp balls are suspended near one another by threads, as shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2

  If a hard rubber rod is rubbed with fur to give it a negative charge and is then held against the right-hand ball in Figure 1(A), the rod will give off a negative charge to the ball. The right-hand ball will have a negative charge with respect to the left-hand ball. When released, the two balls will be drawn together, as shown in figure 1-6(A). They will touch and remain in contact until the left-hand ball gains a portion of the negative charge of the right-hand ball, at which time they will swing apart as shown in Figure 2(C). If a positive or a negative charge is placed on both balls Figure 2(B), the balls will repel each other.

Coulomb's Law of Charges

  The relationship between attracting or repelling charged bodies was first discovered and written about by a French scientist named Charles A. Coulomb. Coulomb's Law states that CHARGED BODIES ATTRACT OR REPEL EACH OTHER WITH A FORCE THAT IS DIRECTLY PROPORTIONAL TO THE PRODUCT OF THEIR INDIVIDUAL CHARGES, AND IS INVERSELY PROPORTIONAL TO THE SQUARE OF THE DISTANCE BETWEEN THEM.

  The amount of attracting or repelling force which acts between two electrically charged bodies in free space depends on two things:  (1) their charges and (2) the distance between them.

Electric Fields

  The space between and around charged bodies in which their influence is felt is called an ELECTRIC FIELD OF FORCE. It can exist in air, glass, paper, or a vacuum. ELECTROSTATIC FIELDS and DIELECTRIC FIELDS are other names used to refer to this region of force.

  Fields of force spread out in the space surrounding their point of origin and, in general, DIMINISH IN PROPORTION TO THE SQUARE OF THE DISTANCE FROM THEIR SOURCE.

  The field about a charged body is generally represented by lines which are referred to as ELECTROSTATIC LINES OF FORCE. These lines are imaginary and are used merely to represent the direction and strength of the field. To avoid confusion, the lines of force exerted by a positive charge are always shown leaving the charge, and for a negative charge they are shown entering. Figure 3 illustrates the use of lines to represent the field about charged bodies.

Figure 3

  Figure 3(A) represents the repulsion of like-charged bodies and their associated fields. Figure 3(B) represents the attraction of unlike-charged bodies and their associated fields.

ACES Int'l hopes you have enjoyed this brief look into Conductors, Semiconductors and Insulators.