resistivity, electrical 

resistance of a conductor of unit cross-sectional area and unit

length. A characteristic property of each material, resistivity is useful in comparing
various materials on the basis of their ability to conduct electric currents. High
resistivity designates poor conductors.

Resistivity, commonly symbolized by the Greek letter rho, ρ, is quantitatively equal

to the resistance R of a specimen such as a wire, multiplied by its cross-sectional
area A, and divided by its length l; ρ = RA/l. The unit of resistance is the ohm. In the
metre-kilogram-second (mks) system, the ratio of area in square metres to length in
metres simplifies to just metres. Thus, in the metre-kilogram-second system, the unit
of resistivity is ohm-metre. If lengths are measured in centimetres, resistivity may be
expressed in units of ohm-centimetre.

The factor in the resistance which takes into account the nature of the material is
the resistivity . Although it is temperature dependent, it can be used at a given
temperature to calculate the resistance of a wire of given geometry.

It should be noted that it is being presumed that the current is uniform across the
cross-section of the wire, which is true only for Direct Current. For Alternating
Current there is the phenomenon of "skin effect" in which the current density is
maximum at the maximum radius of the wire and drops for smaller radii within the
wire. At radio frequencies, this becomes a major factor in design because the outer
part of a wire or cable carries most of the current.

The inverse of resistivity is called conductivity. There are contexts where the use
of conductivity is more convenient.

Ohms Law states that when a voltage (V) source is applied between two
points in a circuit, an electrical current (I) will flow between them
encouraged by the presence of the potential difference between these two
points. The amount of electrical current which flows is restricted by the
amount of resistance (R) present. In other words, the voltage encourages
the current to flow (the movement of charge), but it is resistance that
discourages it.
We always measure electrical resistance in Ohms, where Ohms is denoted
by the Greek letter Omega, Ω. So for example: 50Ω, 10kΩ or 4.7MΩ, etc.
Conductors (e.g. wires and cables) generally have very low values of
resistance (less than 0.1Ω) and thus we can neglect them as we assume in
circuit analysis calculations that wires have zero resistance. Insulators (e.g.
plastic or air) on the other hand generally have very high values of
resistance (greater than 50MΩ), therefore we can ignore them also for
circuit analysis as their value is too high.
But the electrical resistance between two points can depend on many
factors such as the conductors length, its cross-sectional area, the
temperature, as well as the actual material from which it is made. For
example, let’s assume we have a piece of wire (a conductor) that has a
length L, a cross-sectional area A and a resistance R as shown.