Copper greater strength than monocrystalline forms. The softness of copper partly explains its high electrical conductivity (59.6×10 S/m) and high thermal conductivity, second highest (second only to silver) among pure metals at room temperature. This is because the resistivity to electron transport in metals at room temperature originates primarily from scattering of electrons on thermal vibrations of the lattice, which are relatively weak in a soft metal. The maximum permissible current density of copper in open air is approximately 3.1×10 A/m of cross-sectional area, above which it begins to heat excessively. Copper is one of a few metallic elements with a
Electrical resistivity and conductivity in ohms is numerically equal to the resistivity of the material it is made of in Ω⋅m. Conductivity, σ, is the inverse of resistivity: Conductivity has SI units of "siemens per metre" (S/m). For less ideal cases, such as more complicated geometry, or when the current and electric field vary in different parts of the material, it is necessary to use a more general expression in which the resistivity at a particular point is defined as the ratio of the electric field to the density of the current it creates at that point: where in which formula_10 and formula_11 are