Electrical conductors and insulators all have atoms made up of protons, neutrons and elctrons. How then,...

Electrical conductors and insulators all have atoms made up of protons, neutrons and elctrons. How then, do conductors and insulators differ?

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Expert Solution

Conductors are materials where the outermost electrons in the atom is loosely bound such that is appears to be virtually free and so it permits flow of electrons freely from particle to particle where in contrast to conductors, insulators are materials that impede the flow of electrons freely from atom to atom and molecule to molecule because in such materials, electrons are tightly bound to the atom and are not free to move.

If charge is transferred to a conducting object at a given location, that charge is quickly distributed over the entire surface of the object (through free movement of electrons) whereas in insulators, if charge is transferred to an insulator at a given location, the charge will remain at initial location of charge, the particles of insulators do not allow the flow of electrons through them.

Conductors have high electron mobility and insulators have low electron mobility.

genius_generous answered 1 year ago

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