Drude model

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The Drude model or the Drude–Lorentz model of electrical conduction in metals was proposed in 1900 by Paul Drude, and refined by Hendrik Lorentz in 1905. The Drude model attempts to explain conduction in terms of the scattering of electrons (the carriers of electricity) by the relatively immobile ions in the metal that act like obstructions to the flow of electrons. The model is an application of kinetic theory. It assumes that when electrons in a solid are exposed to the electric field, they behave much like a pinball machine. The sea of constantly jittering electrons bouncing and re-bouncing off heavier, relatively immobile positive ions produce a net collective motion in the direction opposite to the applied electric field. In modern terms this is reflected in the valence electron model where the sea of electrons is composed of the valence electrons only, and not the full set of electrons available in the solid, and the scattering centers are the inner shells of tightly bound electrons...

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