Which of the following statements is true about the electrical conductivity of metals?
The electrical conductivity of metals decreases with increasing temperature.
The electrical conductivity of metals decreases with increasing impurity concentration.
The electrical conductivity of metals is independent of the number of free electrons.
The electrical conductivity of metals is independent of the crystal structure.
The electrical conductivity of metals is given by the following formula:
where n is the number of free electrons per unit volume, e is the charge of an electron, and
is the mobility of the electrons.
From this formula, we can see that the electrical conductivity of a metal is directly proportional to the number of free electrons and their mobility.
The number of free electrons in a metal depends on its electron configuration and hence is independent of the crystal structure.