Bebop to the Boolean Boogie, 3rd Edition

Chapter 3. Conductors, Insulators, and Other Stuff

Conductors and Insulators

A substance that conducts electricity easily is called a conductor. Metals such as copper are very good conductors because the bonds in their amorphous crystalline structures are relatively weak, which means that the bonding electrons can easily migrate from one atom to another. If a piece of copper wire is used to connect a source with an excess of electrons to a target with too few electrons, the wire will conduct electrons between them (Figure 3.1).

¹⁶ In Britain, “billion” traditionally used to mean “a million million” (10¹²). However, for reasons unknown, the Americans decided that “billion” should mean “a thousand million” (10⁹). Generally speaking, in order ...