3) Conductors are Different

Now you know that electrons can move in conductors, that they can’t get into insulation, why it’s smart to have layers, and that connections between layers are called vias. In this lesson, you will get a closer look at conductors, because conductors are not all alike. They serve different needs, just like trains do.

If you are going from central London to Heathrow Airport, you want a fast train. If you are going from Bond Street to Marble Arch (which are very close), speed doesn’t matter much – as long as there is enough room for everyone to get on the train.  

When we transport electrons, sometimes speed is important, and sometimes it’s better to have room for many electrons moving together. For this, the size and shape of the conductor are important.

A conductor designed for high speed will be straight and have smooth walls, so that nothing slows down the electrons. On the other hand, if it has a lot of sharp curves and the walls are rough, electrons will go slower.

Other conductors are wide to provide room for lots of electrons to move at once. When they arrive, there is room for them to land and move on, just like a busy train station needs wider platforms for passengers to walk out of the station.

So, the shape and size of the conductor decide the potential speed and how many electrons we can transport at a given time. In PCB design, some conductors must transport signals with almost no power available. This means that the conductor must have very little resistance, so that nothing stops the electrons from doing their job.

The material surrounding the conductors matters too, just like for trains. The hyperloop train is a futuristic idea where a train would run in a tube to protect it from wind or rain, or anything that might limit the speed. This could reduce traveling time from London to Paris from 3 hours to 20 minutes.

The idea is futuristic for trains, but some modern electronics already work like this. Mobile transmission works like this, with conductors being protected by waterproof and noise proof materials. The new 5G net tolerates almost no interference and signals that can go extremely fast, even with mass transportation.

So, conductors are all different. And would you believe it? Holes are not just holes. And that’s the next lesson.