An electrician is trying to decide which kind of material to use to wire a house.
carbon steel: conductivity = 1.43 × 10−7, resistance = 1 × 1010
copper: conductivity = 5.96 × 107, resistance = 1.68 × 10-8
gold: conductivity = 4.11 × 107, resistance = 2.44 × 10−8
iron: conductivity = 1 × 107, resistance = 1.0 × 10−7
Based on this information, which material should the electrician use?
(1 point)
Responses
carbon steel
carbon steel
iron
iron
gold
gold
copper
copper
To determine which material the electrician should use to wire the house, we need to consider the conductivity and resistance of each material.
The higher the conductivity, the better the material is at allowing electricity to flow through it. The lower the resistance, the less the material impedes the flow of electricity.
Comparing the given values:
carbon steel: conductivity = 1.43 × 10−7, resistance = 1 × 10^10
copper: conductivity = 5.96 × 10^7, resistance = 1.68 × 10−8
gold: conductivity = 4.11 × 10^7, resistance = 2.44 × 10−8
iron: conductivity = 1 × 10^7, resistance = 1.0 × 10−7
Based on these values, copper has the highest conductivity and the lowest resistance compared to the other materials. Therefore, the electrician should use copper to wire the house.