• Question: What materials conduct electricity?

    Asked by Rosie Roo to Elizabeth, James, Martin, Martin, Rob on 16 Mar 2015.
    • Photo: James Coombs OBrien

      James Coombs OBrien answered on 16 Mar 2015:

      First of all it helps to know that electricity is the movement of really small particles called electrons.

      So any material that electrons can move around in will conduct electricity.
      A group of material that you would have heard of that do this are metals. Metals have a lot of “free” electrons that can move about so metals are really good at conducting electricity!
      That is why we use metals for cables to transport electricity.

      Thanks for a great question!

    • Photo: Elizabeth Cooper

      Elizabeth Cooper answered on 17 Mar 2015:

      Materials that conduct electricity are materials that have electrons that move. Metals are the best to conduct electricity.

      An insulator is a material with electrons that do not flow freely, and therefore make it very hard to conduct an electric current.

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