Silver vs. gold switch contacts

"Fred Bartoli"

** It is certainly considered to be a "metallic element" in science & commerce - there are over 40 of them.

Pure silicon has all the usual metallic qualities, excepting good electrical conductivity.

Now, *impure silicon* is a whole nuther ball game ......

........ Phil

On Wed, 05 Apr 2006 14:20:52 -0700, Chris Carlen Gave us:

All lawn mower engine breaker points, and even cars, when they were still in use, were made with platinum plated contacts. Modern spark plugs have platinum plated contacts/electrodes. Modern pinball machines have platinum plated contacts. The centrifugal contactors in AC motors, etc.

Beasts? How long have you been sleeping, Rip?

On Thu, 6 Apr 2006 18:54:16 +1000, "Phil Allison" Gave us:

Next to Oxygen, Silicon is the most abundant element on the planet.

"Roy L. Fuchs"

** Silicon makes up almost 28% by weight of the earth's crust to a depth of 3 miles.

Means we have about 7 exp 15 tons currently on hand.

...... Phil

There are numerous metal oxides that conduct more or less well.

Silver oxide and vanadium oxide are both metals, as are tin oxide and indium oxide--transparent conductors are usually tin oxide or indium-tin oxide (ITO). (ITO was used more before indium went up ridiculously in price.) Nickel oxide is almost a metal--it's a Mott insulator with an anomalously low work function.

Cheers,

Phil Hobbs

Not necessarily.

Read the PDF I linked to in previous posts. Also, "ITO" or indium-tin oxide is the conductive coating on glass which makes LCD displays possible. It is highly conductive, even in layers thin enough to be transparent.

--
Good day!

________________________________________
Christopher R. Carlen
Principal Laser&Electronics Technologist
Sandia National Laboratories CA USA
crcarleRemoveThis@BOGUSsandia.gov
NOTE, delete texts: "RemoveThis" and
"BOGUS" from email address to reply.

Would you *PLEASE* stop calling clearly ionic compounds as metals!?

Tim

--
Deep Fryer: a very philosophical monk.
Website: http://webpages.charter.net/dawill/tmoranwms