Re: [tlug] Gold Myths in the Mists of Memory

["Lyle (Hiroshi) Saxon" <ronfaxon@example.com>]

Jim wrote:

> > [LHS] Back when I studied electronics in high school in 1977, we were told 
> > that gold was the best conductor (don't they use gold for parts of IC 
> > chips, etc?).  
> >    
>
> Belief that gold is the best conductor is a common mistake, 
> particularly among technical folks who dabble little with 
> physics or electronics. There is commonly a transferance of 
> gold's mystique and value to its conductivity. This is not the 
> first time I've encountered this myth, but I've never heard 
> teachers or electrical engineers mistake gold as the best 
> conductor, so it is actually more likely that you were not 
> told that gold is the best conductor. Memory is a fickle thing. 
>
>   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrical_resistivity#Typical_values
>
> Legend has it that Oak Ridge was gobbling such prodigious 
> amounts of electricity that the substation feeding it had 
> silver buss bars. 
It may have been a discussion of practical application materials....  As 
a conductor that needs to conduct through physically touching another 
separate material (as opposed to internal conduction), wouldn't the 
oxidation of silver be an issue?  My parents used to have some real 
silver silverware and in addition to how soft it was (I know, same thing 
with gold), if you didn't polish it all the time, it turned white.  
Isn't this the reason that some cables are gold plated but not silver 
plated?  Or is oxidated silver just as conductive to the touch as clean 
silver?  Starting from the issue of a good material to place across two 
contacts for good conductivity, it's relevant....

Lyle