What describes a material's opposition to the flow of electric current?

What describes a material's opposition to the flow of electric current?

• A. Capacitance
• B. Inductance
• C. Resistance
• D. Conductance

Answer: (C)

Opposition to the flow of electric current is described by resistance. It’s a property of a material that tells you how much current will be reduced for a given voltage, formalized by Ohm’s law as I = V/R. With a fixed voltage, higher resistance means less current; lower resistance means more current. Resistance arises from electrons colliding with atoms and lattice structures inside the material, and it’s affected by temperature, impurities, and material type. The unit is the ohm. Conductance is the reciprocal of resistance and measures how easily current can flow. Capacitance and inductance relate to storing energy in electric and magnetic fields, respectively, and don’t describe opposition to steady current flow in the same way. In practice, good insulators have high resistance, while good conductors have low resistance.

Opposition to the flow of electric current is described by resistance. It’s a property of a material that tells you how much current will be reduced for a given voltage, formalized by Ohm’s law as I = V/R. With a fixed voltage, higher resistance means less current; lower resistance means more current. Resistance arises from electrons colliding with atoms and lattice structures inside the material, and it’s affected by temperature, impurities, and material type. The unit is the ohm. Conductance is the reciprocal of resistance and measures how easily current can flow. Capacitance and inductance relate to storing energy in electric and magnetic fields, respectively, and don’t describe opposition to steady current flow in the same way. In practice, good insulators have high resistance, while good conductors have low resistance.