According to abbreviationfinder.org, EC stands for ELECTRICAL CONDUCTOR. The adjective conductor is used to describe what leads (guides, transports, directs). Electric, meanwhile, refers to what electricity has, needs or transmits : the form of energy that is based on the force manifested by the rejection or attraction between charged particles.
An electrical conductor, in this way, is a material that enables the transmission of electricity. This capacity is given by the little resistance that it exerts before the movement of the electrical charge.
What materials conduct electricity
There are different classes of materials that act as electrical conductors. The most efficient are metals such as copper, silver, iron, aluminum, and gold. However, some non-metal materials, such as saline or graphite, also function as electrical conductors.
If we take into account the way in which the electrical conductor carries out its work, then we can elaborate a classification of the different materials that gives us the following three groups:
* Metallic : these electrical conductors act electronically, since it relies on free electrons to carry charges. Precisely, this can take place because the members of this group are metals and alloys;
* electrolytic : these are those that have ionic class conduction. This means that the substances must go through a total or partial dissociation, to give rise to the formation of positive or negative ions, which are responsible for carrying the charges. In this case, a chemical reaction and a displacement of matter occur at the same time that the electric current passes;
* gaseous : as the name implies, these electrical conductors are gases. Of course, it cannot be just any gas, but one that has been subjected to ionization, a process that makes it capable of conducting electricity. Although it is true that this type of electrical conductor is not used very often, we cannot prevent the air itself (a gas that constantly surrounds us) from acting in this way, for example, when relating to electrical discharges and lightning, between other cases.
Copper, present in many cables, is a frequently used electrical conductor.
Electrical conductors in the home
At the industrial and household level, the most used electrical conductor is copper. This is due to the relationship between your cost and your ability as a driver. That is why copper cables are used very frequently.
It should be noted that electrical conductors carry electricity from one point to another; they can modify the voltage when they are constituted as transformers; and allow the creation of electromagnetic fields by forming electromagnets and coils.
Take the case of a television that needs electrical current to function. The appliance has a cable to make the connection to a power outlet, thus forming an electrical circuit. The TV cable is composed of an electrical conductor of one or more wires, wrapped by a layer of filler and protected by insulation and a jacket that provides mechanical protection.
Conductivity measurement
One of the operations that technicians must carry out with great frequency when working with electrical conductors is to measure their level of conductivity. For this they can use various instruments and techniques; roughly, we can say that conventional measurement consists of applying a voltage between two electrodes and then calculating the resistance of the solution.
Solutions with a high degree of electrical conductivity generate higher currents. In order for the intensity of the current to be contained in a solution of these characteristics, we must make the surface of the probe smaller, or increase the distance between the two poles. For this reason, it is necessary to use probes that adapt to the measurement ranges of each test.