Conductive Materials

A conductive material allows electrons to flow easily across its surface or through its bulk (volume). Conductive materials have low electrical resistance, generally less than 1.0 x 104 ohms (surface and volume resistance). When a conductive material of uniform shape (i.e., sphere) becomes charged, the charge (i.e., the deficiency or excess of electrons) will be uniformly distributed across the surface of the material. For non-uniformly shaped conductive materials, the charge is distributed according to the shape of the object and nearby grounded surfaces or other charged items. If the charged conductive material makes contact with another conductive material, the electrons will transfer between the materials quite easily. If the second conductor is a wire lead attached to an earth grounding point, the electrons will flow to or from ground and the excess charge on the conductor will be "neutralized".

Electrostatic charge can be generated triboelectrically on conductors the same way it is on insulators. The static charge will remain on the conductor as long as the conductor is isolated from other conductors or ground. Its presence can be measured the same as with insulators. Since the conductive material allows easy flow of electrons, the charge will flow to ground or will be shared with another conductive object it contacts. It can flow across the conductive material's surface or through its volume (bulk).