Physics, Chapter 35: Electronics

Authors

• Henry Semat, City College of New York
• Robert Katz, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

1-1958

Comments

Published in Physics, by Henry Semat and Robert Katz, New York: Rinehart & Company, Inc., 1958. Copyright © 1958 Henry Semat and Robert Katz. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Abstract

The electrons of an atom occupy certain energy levels when the atom is far from other atoms. When a large number of atoms are assembled to form a conducting metallic solid, the energy levels of the valence electrons are displaced in position to form a conduction band, as discussed in Section 28-4. The valence electrons occupy energy levels within the conduction band and are relatively free to drift from atom to atom within the metal. In accordance with a fundamental physical principle, known as the Pauli exclusion principle, only 1 electron may occupy a particular energy level. The conduction electrons are not all in the state of lowest energy, for only 1 electron can occupy that level. The conduction electrons tend to fill the bottom region of the conduction band.