Question

Write the SI unit of Resistivity.

Answer 1

Hint: To solve this question, you need to know the concept of resistivity. Resistivity is a basic property of a material which quantifies how much it resists electric current to flow.

Complete step by step answer:
We know that resistivity is used for measuring how much the material resists the flow of current through it. A low resistivity shows that the material can conduct electricity easily. We can understand the resistivity using an example. If a solid cube of length of 1 metre, width of 1 metre and height of 1 metre has sheet contact on two opposite faces, and also resistance between the contacts is one ohm. Then, the resistivity of the material is 1 ohm metre.

Therefore, the SI unit of resistivity is ohm metre which is represented by the Greek letter ‘rho’.

Additional Information:
The inverse of the electrical resistance is electrical conductivity which gives the measure of how much the material conducts electricity easily.The electrical resistivity is also called specific electrical resistance or volume resistivity.

Note: You should not be confused with the electrical resistance and electrical resistivity. Electrical resistance is the measure of how strongly the material resists the flow of electric current through that material. But electrical resistivity is the resistance of material having a unit length. Electrical resistivity of the same conductors having different length and width have the same electrical resistivity