Electrical Conductivity - Elements and Other Materials

A comprehensive reference for electrical conductivity values of elements and other materials, including conductivity relative to silver and resistivity conversion data.

Product	Electrical Conductivity - σ (1/Ω m, S/m, mho/m)
Aluminum	37.7×10⁶
Beryllium	31.3×10⁶
Cadmium	13.8×10⁶
Calcium	29.8×10⁶
Chromium	7.74×10⁶
Cobalt	17.2×10⁶
Copper	59.6×10⁶
Copper - annealed	58.0×10⁶
Gallium	6.78×10⁶
Gold	45.2×10⁶
Iridium	19.7×10⁶
Iron	9.93×10⁶
Indium	11.6×10⁶
Lithium	10.8×10⁶
Magnesium	22.6×10⁶
Molybdenum	18.7×10⁶
Nickel	14.3×10⁶
Niobium	6.93×10⁶
Osmium	10.9×10⁶
Palladium	9.5×10⁶
Platinum	9.66×10⁶
Potassium	13.9×10⁶
Rhenium	5.42×10⁶
Rhodium	21.1×10⁶
Rubidium	7.79×10⁶
Ruthenium	13.7×10⁶
Silver	63×10⁶
Sodium	21×10⁶
Strontium	7.62×10⁶
Tantalum	7.61×10⁶
Technetium	6.7×10⁶
Thallium	6.17×10⁶
Thorium	6.53×10⁶
Tin	9.17×10⁶
Tungsten	18.9×10⁶
Zinc	16.6×10⁶
Seawater	4.5 - 5.5
Water - Drinking	0.0005 - 0.05
Water - Deionized	5.5×10⁻⁶

Element	Electrical Conductivity relative to Silver (%)
Silver	100.0
Copper	94.6
Gold	71.7
Aluminum	59.8
Beryllium	49.7
Calcium	47.3
Magnesium	35.9
Rhodium	33.5
Sodium	33.0
Barium	30.6
Tungsten	30.0
Molybdenum	29.7
Cobalt	27.3
Zinc	26.3
Nickel	22.6
Cadmium	21.9
Ruthenium	21.7
Cesium	20.0
Indium	18.4
Osmium	17.3
Lithium	17.1
Uranium	16.5
Manganese	15.8
Iron	15.8
Platinum	15.3
Palladium	15.1
Tin	14.6
Titanium	13.7
Iridium	13.5
Rubidium	12.4
Chromium	12.3
Tantalum	12.1
Steel	12.0
Thallium	9.8
Lead	8.4
Columbium	5.1
Vanadium	5.0
Arsenic	4.9
Antimony	3.6
Mercury	1.8
Bismuth	1.4
Tellurium	0.0

Grains/gal as CaCO3	ppm as CaCO3	ppm NaCl	Conductivity μmho/cm	Resistivity MΩ/cm
99.3	1700	2000	3860	0.00026
74.5	1275	1500	2930	0.00034
49.6	850	1000	1990	0.00050
24.8	425	500	1020	0.00099
9.93	170	200	415	0.0024
7.45	127	150	315	0.0032
4.96	85.0	100	210	0.0048
2.48	42.5	50	105	0.0095
0.992	17.0	20	42.7	0.023
0.742	12.7	15	32.1	0.031
0.496	8.50	10	21.4	0.047
0.248	4.25	5.0	10.8	0.093
0.099	1.70	2.0	4.35	0.23
0.074	1.27	1.5	3.28	0.30
0.048	0.85	1.00	2.21	0.45
0.025	0.42	0.50	1.13	0.88
0.0099	0.17	0.20	0.49	2.05
0.0076	0.13	0.15	0.38	2.65
0.0050	0.085	0.10	0.27	3.70
0.0025	0.042	0.05	0.16	6.15
0.00099	0.017	0.02	0.098	10.2
0.00070	0.012	0.015	0.087	11.5
0.00047	0.008	0.010	0.076	13.1
0.00023	0.004	0.005	0.066	15.2
0.00012	0.002	0.002	0.059	16.9

Electrical Conductivity Formula

σ = J / E

Where:

σ = electrical conductivity (1/Ω m, S/m, mho/m)
J = current density (amps/m²)
E = electric field strength (volts/m)

Electrical Resistivity Formula

ρ = 1 / σ

Where:

ρ = electrical resistivity (ohm m)
σ = electrical conductivity (S/m)

Resistance of a Conductor

R = ρ l / A

Where:

R = resistance (ohms, Ω)
l = length of conductor (m)
A = cross sectional area of conductor (m²)

Unit Conversions

1 S/m = 10⁴ μS/cm = mho/m
1 S/cm = 10⁻² S/m
1 1/Ω m = S/m = 3.28 1/Ω ft = 3.28 S/ft
1 grains/gal = 17.1 ppm CaCO₃