Give two factors that affect the resistivity of a material, and briefly explain why. Besides resistivity, what two factors determine the resistance of a wire? Edit Format Table
Resistivity describes how many conducting particles are present in per unit volume, how much charge they carry and how fast they move in an electric field. Whereas, Resistance describes the relationship between current and potential in a circuit.
Factors that affect the resistivity of a material:
1. Temperature : The resistivity of a material changes with temperature. The resistivity of metal increases with increase in temperature. the kinetic energy of atom increases when the temperature is increased. So when there is a flow of electron the possibility of collision with atoms increases, hence resistivity increases.
2. Number density of electron : The number density of electron affect the resistivity of material. Resistivity is inversely proportional to number density of electron in material.
3. Mechanical Stressing: The crystal structure of a material get distorted when it goes mechanical treatment and due to this the localized strain is produced in the material. this interfere the movement of electron and affect the resistivity of material.
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