Electrical Conductivity List: What metal is most conductive ? IT'S NOT GOLD!

This table shows the resistivity, conductivity and temperature coefficient of various materials at 20 °C (68 °F)

Material	ρ [Ω·m] at 20 °C	σ [S/m] at 20 °C	Temperature coefficient [K−1]	Reference
Silver	1.59×10−8	6.30×107	0.0038	[1][2]
Copper	1.68×10−8	5.96 × 107	0.0039	[2]
Annealed Copper[note 2]		5.80 × 107		[citation needed]
Gold[note 3]	2.44×10−8	4.52 × 107	0.0034	[1]
Aluminium[note 4]	2.82×10−8	3.5 × 107	0.0039	[1]
Calcium	3.36x10−8		0.0041
Tungsten	5.60×10−8		0.0045	[1]
Zinc	5.90×10−8		0.0037	[3]
Nickel	6.99×10−8		0.006
Lithium	9.28×10−8		0.006
Iron	1.0×10−7		0.005	[1]
Platinum	1.06×10−7		0.00392	[1]
Tin	1.09×10−7		0.0045
Lead	2.2×10−7		0.0039	[1]
Titanium	4.20x10−7		X
Manganin	4.82×10−7		0.000002	[4]
Constantan	4.9×10−7		0.000008	[5]
Mercury	9.8×10−7		0.0009	[4]
Nichrome[note 5]	1.10×10−6		0.0004	[1]
Carbon (amorphous)	5-8×10−4		−0.0005	[1][6]
Carbon (graphite)[note 6]	2.5-5.0×10−6 ⊥ basal plane 3.0×10−3 // basal plane			[7]
Carbon (diamond)[note 7]	~1012			[8]
Germanium[note 7]	4.6×10−1		−0.048	[1][2]
Sea water[note 8]	2×10−1	4.8		[9]
Drinking water[note 9]		0.0005 to 0.05		[citation needed]
Deionized water[note 10]		5.5 × 10−6		[10]
Silicon[note 7]	6.40×102		−0.075	[1]
Glass	1010 to 1014		?	[1][2]
Hard rubber	approx. 1013		?	[1]
Sulfur	1015		?	[1]
Air		3 to 8 × 10−15		[11]
Paraffin	1017		?
Quartz (fused)	7.5×1017		?	[1]
PET	1020		?
Teflon	1022 to 1024		?

The extremely low resistivity (high conductivity) of silver is characteristic of metals. George Gamow tidily summed up the nature of the metals' dealings with electrons in his science-popularizing book, One, Two, Three...Infinity (1947): "The metallic substances differ from all other materials by the fact that the outer shells of their atoms are bound rather loosely, and often let one of their electrons go free. Thus the interior of a metal is filled up with a large number of unattached electrons that travel aimlessly around like a crowd of displaced persons. When a metal wire is subjected to electric force applied on its opposite ends, these free electrons rush in the direction of the force, thus forming what we call an electric current." More technically, the free electron model gives a basic description of electron flow in metals.