The electrical resistance of an electrical conductor is the opposition to the passage of an electric current through that conductor. The inverse quantity is electrical conductance, the ease with which an electric current passes. The SI unit of electrical resistance is the ohm (Ω), while electrical conductance is measured in siemens (S).
An object of uniform cross section has a resistance proportional to its resistivity and length and inversely proportional to its cross-sectional area. All materials show some resistance, except for superconductors, which have a resistance of zero. The resistance (R) of an object is defined as the ratio of voltage across it (V) to current through it (I), while the conductance (G) is the inverse:
R=V/I , G= 1/R = I/V.
For a wide variety of materials and conditions, V and I are directly proportional to each other, and therefore R and G are constant (although they can depend on other factors like temperature or strain). This proportionality is called Ohm's law, and materials that satisfy it are called "Ohmic" materials. In other cases, such as a diode or battery, V and I are not directly proportional, or in other words the I–V curve is not a straight line through the origin, and Ohm's law does not hold. In this case, resistance and conductance are less useful concepts, and more difficult to define:
R= dV/dI called "differential resistance".
The
voltage drop (i.e., difference in voltage between one side of the resistor and the other), not the voltage itself, provides the driving force pushing current through a resistor. Two properties
—geometry (shape) and material—mostly determine the resistance and conductance of a wire, resistor, or other element. A long, thin copper wire has higher resistance (lower conductance) than a short, thick copper wire. In a similar way, electrons can flow freely and easily through a copper wire, but cannot as easily flow through a steel wire of the same shape and size, and they essentially cannot flow at all through an insulator like rubber, regardless of its shape. The difference between, copper, steel, and rubber is related to their
microscopic structure and electron configuration, and is quantified by a property called
resistivity.
The resistance of a given object depends primarily on two factors: What material it is made of, and its shape. For a given material, the resistance is inversely proportional to the cross-sectional area; for example, a thick copper wire has lower resistance than an otherwise-identical thin copper wire. Also, for a given material, the resistance is proportional to the length; for example, a long copper wire has higher resistance than an otherwise-identical short copper wire.
The resistance R and conductance G of a conductor of uniform cross section, therefore, can be computed as
R= ρ . l/A
G= σ . A/l
where l is the length of the conductor, measured in metres [m], A is the cross-section area of the conductor measured in square metres [m²], σ (sigma) is the electrical conductivity measured in siemens per meter (S·m−1), and ρ (rho) is the electrical resistivity (also called specific electrical resistance) of the material, measured in ohm-metres (Ω·m). The resistivity and conductivity are proportionality constants, and therefore depend only on the material the wire is made of, not the geometry of the wire. Resistivity and conductivity are reciprocals:
ρ=1/σ. Resistivity is a measure of the material's ability to oppose electric current.
This formula is not exact: It assumes the current density is totally uniform in the conductor, which is not always true in practical situations. However, this formula still provides a good approximation for long thin conductors such as wires.
Another situation for which this formula is not exact is with alternating current (AC), because the skin effect inhibits current flow near the center of the conductor.
(The hydraulic analogy compares electric current flowing through circuits to water flowing through pipes. When a pipe (left) is filled with hair (right), it takes a larger pressure to achieve the same flow of water. Pushing electric current through a large resistance is like pushing water through a pipe clogged with hair: It requires a larger push (electromotive force) to drive the same flow (electric current).
The resistivity of different materials varies by an enormous amount: For example, the conductivity of teflon is about 1030 times lower than the conductivity of copper. Why is there such a difference? Loosely speaking, a metal has large numbers of "delocalized" electrons that are not stuck in any one place, but free to move across large distances, whereas in an insulator (like teflon), each electron is tightly bound to a single molecule, and a great force is required to pull it away. Semiconductors lie between these two extremes. More details can be found in the article: Electrical resistivity and conductivity. For the case of electrolyte solutions, see the article: Conductivity (electrolytic).
Resistivity varies with temperature. In semiconductors, resistivity also changes when light is shining on it.
Πηγή: https://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Electrical_resistance.html και μέσω αυτού Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrical_resistivity_and_conductivity
