Resistivity of metals and alloys

Metals and their alloys are specific in that they are excellent conductors of heat and electricity, contrarily to non-metallic elements . These two essential characteristics differentiate metals from non-metals and the origin of this difference is to be found in the electronic structure of the element and the nature of its chemical bond. Before presenting the numerical values of resistivity, this article studies the methods for measuring resistivity and the influence of parameters on the latter; these parameters can be specific to the material or environmental.