or you can use slightly thicker copper. but sometimes you can’t, and that’s when silver is a slight upgrade
i heard that microwave parts for satellite use are made this way: first you start with aluminum, for structural and weight reasons. then it’s plated on inside (where microwaves are) with thin layer of zinc, then with copper. you can’t plate copper on aluminum directly. copper is there to conduct microwave current, but silver is slightly better, so there’s a layer of silver to conduct most of it, and copper handles the rest. then it’s topped with gold, and normally there’s a layer of nickel between copper and gold, but it’s a big nope for microwaves, and silver is alternative. it’s a very thin layer, so thin that it doesn’t conduct a lot of current, it’s there only for corrosion resistance
It’s not shit, it’s top 3 behind silver and copper. But those oxidize and gold doesn’t. So a gold coated silver core is what you want.
or you can use slightly thicker copper. but sometimes you can’t, and that’s when silver is a slight upgrade
i heard that microwave parts for satellite use are made this way: first you start with aluminum, for structural and weight reasons. then it’s plated on inside (where microwaves are) with thin layer of zinc, then with copper. you can’t plate copper on aluminum directly. copper is there to conduct microwave current, but silver is slightly better, so there’s a layer of silver to conduct most of it, and copper handles the rest. then it’s topped with gold, and normally there’s a layer of nickel between copper and gold, but it’s a big nope for microwaves, and silver is alternative. it’s a very thin layer, so thin that it doesn’t conduct a lot of current, it’s there only for corrosion resistance
I stand corrected. Idk why I thought it was a better conductor
Gold coating for connectors is nice. For everything else it doesn’t really matter, you get an oxide layer that prevents further oxidation.