1.01 Electrical properties of materials

Introduction
Electricity is concerned with the movement of charged particles in electrical circuits. Therefore in order to gain a basic understanding of electricity we must first understand what a charged particle is. We also need to know about the electrical properties of the materials that are used to make electrical circuits and this requires a general understanding of the structure of these materials. In this section we will look at the structure and electrical properties of atoms and molecules. We will also look at how atoms and molecules combine to make different materials. Later we will see how this determines the electrical properties of the materials.

Atoms and molecules
All materials are made up of molecules and molecules in turn are made up of atoms. In some substances such as Argon, the molecules consist of a single atom. Therefore in these substances molecules and atoms are the same thing. However, in most materials two or more atoms bond together to form molecules.

Examples