Question

What does it mean for a substance to be an insulator?



Give three examples of substances that are considered to be insulators.



Describe the process of heat transfer by conduction. What happens to the molecules that cause the thermal energy to be transferred?

Answer 1

an insulator means electricity does not flow through well, and it is a poor conductor heat.

Answer 2

a substance is called a conductor of electricity, since it contains many free electrons. Now those free electrons are available as electrical current, when we apply an external source of voltage to such conductor.
Example of good conductors, are:
1) gold,
2) platinum
3) copper
furthermore, also the electrolytic solutions, are good liquid conductors
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Whereas an insulator does not contain several free electrons, since all its electrons are tightly bound to respective nuclei
so, when I apply an external voltage source, to an insulator, I have no electrical current from such insulator

Answer 3

good insultators are:
rubber, and plastics

Answer 4

also the pure water, namely water which doesn't contain any salts, is an insulator