Why is oil an insulator?

Answer 1

no or very little The very same characteristics that makes it a good lubricant also makes it non-conductive. A good lubricant is not necisarily non-conductive. Soapy water is a good lubricant and is also a fair conductor of electricity. Engine oil does not conduct electricity because there are no charge carriers in it. A charge carrier is any chemical species with a net electric charge. Pure water is a very poor conductor of electricity. Dissolving salt in water produces ions (charged chemical species) which act as charge carriers. As a result, salt water is a much better electrical conductor than is pure water. In the case of motor oils, there are no charge carriers. Furthermore, salts are not soluble in oil so it isn't usually possible to add a charge carrier to increase the electrical conductivity. In metals, the "charge carriers" are electrons. A hunk of metal is essentialy a single molecule. Some of the metals electrons are not held tightly to an individual atom and can migrate through the metal under the influence of an electric field. In oil there are no loosely held electrons in the indvidual molecules, hence no possibility for the electrons to migrate within a molecule. Even if there were loosely held electrons within the molecules, there is no low energy mechanism to transfer mobile electrons between molecules. So, oil is non-conductive because it doesn't contain any charge carriers. Oil usually can not be made conductive by the addition of salts.

Answer 2

For a fluid to conduct electricity it must contain electrolytes. Electrolytes are charged ions. For example it is widely known that water will conduct electricity. There are two reasons for this:

If you add table salt (NaCl) to water, it will dissolve to produce Na+ and Cl- ions. These ions are capable of carrying a charge. There are many other similar ions in water such as SO42- K+ NO3- etc. Ionic substances dissolve in water as they are both polar compounds.

Water also self ionises to produce electrolytes by the following reaction:

H2O -> H+ + OH-

At 25oC the concentration of each of the above ions is 1x10-7 molL-1.

Oil does neither of these things. Oil is a mixture of long, non polar hydrocarbon chains that will never ionise to produce current carrying ions. Additionally, as oil is non polar, ionic substances will not dissolve into solution, which would cause oil to conduct electricity.

Answer 3

There are no "free" electrons available to transmit electrical potential. In metals some of the outer electrons are "shared" by neighbors and so are "free" to move; this makes them electric conductors.

Answer 4

because the electricity would create a reaction that would cause fires

Answer 5

yes, in a word. It is just not as good of a conductor as other materials such as copper or gold, because it does not have the same atomic structure but it will still conduct electricity.

Answer 6

It is an electrical insulator because it has no charged particles which are free to move. It is composed of neutral molecules which are unaffected by an electric field.

Answer 7

Oil is not soluble in water.

Answer 8

Insulator.