Diamagnetism due to free electrons

Abstract

According to the electron theory of the electrical and thermal properties of metals, these bodies contain a large number of negative electrons, which move about between the metallic atoms like the molecules of a gas. This theory explains satisfactorily several of the fundamental facts, such as the emission of electrons from hot metals, Ohm’s law, and Wiedemann and Franz’s law, but fails in its simple form to account for the different values of the Hall effect and other phenomena. More elaborate forms of the electron theory, based on the quantum hypothesis, enable some of these difficulties to be removed.