Re: metal conductivity (fwd)

[Leigh Palmer <palmer@SFU.CA>]

>  A contributor to the sister, Chemical Educator's list asks
>
> > Can anyone explain, on an atomic level, why copper and silver are better
> > conductors of heat and electricity than the other transition metals?

The answer to the metaquestion is, probably, no. No one can "explain",
on an atomic level, why copper and silver are better conductors of
heat than other transition metals.

A better question would be "What is responsible for making a material
a good conductor of electricity or heat?" It is well known, for example,
that carbon is the best thermal conductor at room temperature, but one
would have great difficulty explaining that on an atomic level by
comparing it to its chemical congeners. Quite a bit more than chemistry
is involved.

Leigh