Size effect variation of the electrical conductivity of metals
This paper records experiments and theoretical work concerned with the variation of conductivity with size in metals. Experimental results for the conductivity in thin wires of pure sodium of varying diameter in the absence of a magnetic field and also in the presence of longitudinal and transverse magnetic fields are given. Using the general statistical theory of metals the variation of resistance with size in the case of conductivity wires of square cross-section is calculated for comparison with the first set of experiments. A theoretical investigation follows of the alteration in conductivity produced in metallic films by the application of transverse magnetic fields, and this is compared with the corresponding experimental results obtained on the sodium cylinders.