Conduction electrons as a classical gas

In this model conducting electrons in a metal are modeled as an classical gas. This model doesnt take into account any possible Coulombic interactions between electrons and ionized metal atoms or other electrons the only accounted interactions are elastic collisions. Thus the electron energy only consists of their kinetic energy and the average kinetic energy is given by Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution. In three dimensions this model gives: 1 3 = = 2 = 2 . While free electron model cannot account for several important phenomena in solids like electron heat capacity or holes as charge carriers it provides a simple way to estimate values for some important properties like resistance (), resistivity (), conductivity (), electron mobility () and even purity.

The average speed of an electron in a gas given by Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution is =

1
1

8 .

The mean free path of the electron is = where

is relaxation time. The mean free path of an electron in a metal is = 2 where is the metal atom radius and number of electrons. The relaxation time is then = = 2
1 8 2

= 2

. 8

The electrical resistivity of a metal bar with cross section and length is = /, the conductivity

is simply the reciprocal of resistivity, however it can also be defined in terms of current density and the intensity of the applied electric field . The conductivity is then = 1 . The number of electrons with velocity crossing an area in time is , each has charge and the current density is then = . In an ideal gas there is no net movement of particles from one side of the container to another thus = 0 and there is no current. However if we apply an electric field to the metal bar the electrons will be accelerated in the direction of the field, this will give a non-zero and cause an electric current. The velocity can be obtained through the Newtons second law of motion = . The electron in an electric field experiences force of , from Newtons second law we get = . We must also note that electron in a metal does not accelerate infinitely, but is

stopped by collisions with atoms. Since the average time between collisions is rearranging and integrating = get the average value of between collisions () = average conductivity =
2 .

We can use to get average current density =

2 . 8

2 which

with respect to time we can in turn allows us to calculate

. Since = 2

average conductivity is = 2

The resistivity is mainly due to scattering and it can be divided into three parts = + + . The classical gas model doesnt take into account scattering, thus it represent pure, defect free material. If we measure resistivity of the material at different temperatures and compare it to the theoretical resistivity of the classical model we can determine the amount of impurities in our sample if we assume defect free material. The difference in resistivity will only consist of the impurity part since at same temperature the phonon contribution to resistivity is same.