explain the difference between an insulator and a conductor
The main difference between the two, other than a conductor conducts both heat and electricity where is an insulator does not, is the number of electrons located in the outer shell. A conductor has either 1, 3, or 5 electrons in the outer shell. Both copper and silver has only 1 electron in the outer shell. This is why copper is used in house wiring. A insulator generally has either 4 or 8 electrons in the outer shell. Carbon, which has 4 electrons in the outer shell, is a fairly good insulator. This is why carbon is used to make resistors.
The main difference between conductor and insulator is that a conductor conducts electricity or heat well, whereas an insulator conducts electricity or heat poorly.
the simple explanation is that an insulator does not allow the flow of electrical current, while a conductor allows the flow of electrical current. typically rubber and plastics are used for insulators and metals such as gold and copper are used for conductors
conductors are objects that allow the movement of electrons to FLOW freely while insulators are objects that prevent or stop the movement of electrons to flow. An example of a good conductor would be gold because it is a metal and most metals are considered good consider and a good example of a insulator would be rubber.
