"What materials can conduct?" Return to list of pracs

Aim: This activity is used to identify what materials can conduct electricity and what materials cannot.

Equipment: The equipment includes...  

Method: Tape with masking tape one end of one wire to the base of the battery. Tape one end of the another piece of wire to the top of the battery. Attach the other end of this wire to the metal casing of the globe. Tape one end of the third wire to the very base of the globe. You will now have two loose ends of wire. If you touch them together they will conduct electricity and the globe will therefore glow!

Now, place these two loose ends of wire on any of the test materials (so that the two loose wires are not touching each other themselves but can conduct electicity through the required test material) to see if they conduct electricity: if the globe lights up the material conducts electricity.

Results: Conductors [aluminium foil, nail, steel wool] Vs Insulators [eraser, stopper, cork, paper, straw, button, peg]

Background knowledge: Good conductors of electricity require the material to allow charged particles to move freely through its structure. If charged particles (negatively charged electrons) cannot move easily through the material, then it is called an insulator. This is why wires are made of metal which as you have discovered are generally very good conductors. It is in the nature of metals to allow free moving electrons to move throughout its structure very easily.