I study electricity and my teacher said that electrons are best conductive at absolute zero. How did that happen?
Answer
The electrical resistance ultimately comes from the interaction (say collisions) of the electrons with the lattice ions in a metal. You can compare it with the ball in a pinball machine. As the temperature increases, the lattice ions will vibrate harder and the impact of a collision with an electron will be greater.
However, you cannot immediately conclude from this that the resistance would be zero at absolute zero: impurities in the metal lattice ensure that a finite resistance remains. There is one exception and that is the superconductors, but that is another story.
Answered by
Prof Walter Lauriks
Physics Acoustics
Old Market 13 3000 Leuven
https://www.kuleuven.be/
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