answersLogoWhite

0

Basically, the electron shells in an insulator are complete. That means they are not prone to donating any of their electrons and also cannot accept any further electrons from the material external to the insulator. As such insulators aren't waystations for electrons looking to move (conduct). There's a bit more to it. Consider, for example, Carbon (column IV) which, at least in diamond form, is an outstanding insulator. It's the CRYSTAL, the diamond, that has the aforementioned "shell completeness". Pure Silicon (also column IV) has the same characteristic behavior. You can change these pure crystals from insulators to semi-conductors and then conductors by adding increasing amounts of impurities to the crystal, such as atoms from Columns III and V. To carry this further, while Sodium (Na) is a conductor, PURE Sodium Chloride (NaCl, common salt) is an excellent insulator. (Again, with impurities added, it becomes a poorer insulator and better conductor.) It's the crystal's electron shell structure that's complete. HOWEVER, common salt, NaCl, is very soluble in water. So, while pure water is a poor conductor, a common salt solution becomes highly conductive. When salt crystals are dissolved copious amounts of imbalanced ions are ready to donate or accept electrons. More simply: The outer shell of a conductive atom has 3 or less electrons in its outer shell, semi-conductive atom has 4, and an insulating atom has 5 or more.

User Avatar

Wiki User

16y ago

What else can I help you with?

Continue Learning about Electrical Engineering

Why the semiconductor behave like a insulator as a zero?

O K is absolute zero. At absolute zero, the electrons of the semi conductors are trapped and are immovable from their electron shell as they are in a low energy state. This makes the pure semiconductor an insulator. One must heat the semiconductor to give the electrons enough energy to move to free them from their electron shell, and thus conduct.


When did insulation paper on sockets become out dated?

The last I remember seeing cardboard lamp socket shell insulation was the late 50's or early 60"s. Going on the internet it looks like they can still be bought today for special applications. Once PVC became prevalent as an insulator in the electrical trade, the cardboard insulators were phased out.


Why intrinsic semiconductors behave like insulator at low temperature?

at low temperature its forbidden gap is very large so it act as a insulater.


What is 7 trillion electron volts in mains voltage?

They're different things. An "electron volt" is not the same as a "volt". An "electron volt" is an amount of energy. It's the work you have to do in order to lift one electron to a place that's 1 volt more negative, and also the amount of energy that one electron loses when it falls to a place that's 1 volt more positive. "1 joule" of energy is the amount of energy you pay for if you use 1 watt for 1 second, and that's about 6,250,000,000,000,000,000 electron volts of energy. If you use 1,000 watts for 1 hour, you pay for 1 kilowatt-hour of energy. That's about 22,500,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 electron volts of energy, or 3.6 million joules. It costs around 15¢ to 25¢ in most places. The "7 trillion electron volts" in the question is something like the amount of energy that you'd have to pay for if you used 1 watt for 0.00000112 second. It's not much.


What is the Difference between dielectric and insulator?

The difference between dielectric and insulator lies in its field of application.Dielectrics are used to store the electric charges, while insulators are used to block the flow of electric charges ( they more or less act like a wall).While all dielectrics are insulators (they don't allow the flow of electric charges through them) all insulators aren't dielectric because they can't store charges unlike dielectrics.

Related Questions

Why the semiconductor behave like a insulator as a zero?

O K is absolute zero. At absolute zero, the electrons of the semi conductors are trapped and are immovable from their electron shell as they are in a low energy state. This makes the pure semiconductor an insulator. One must heat the semiconductor to give the electrons enough energy to move to free them from their electron shell, and thus conduct.


How many more valence electrons does sodium need to have a full?

Sodium would need to gain 7 electrons to fill its valance shell. Instead of doing that, however, sodium will lose the one valence electron it does have, leaving behind the shell below it, which is already full.


What is the difference between an electron shell and an orbital in an atom?

An electron shell is a group of electron orbitals at a similar energy level, while an orbital is the specific region within an electron shell where an electron is likely to be found. In simpler terms, electron shells are like floors in a building, and orbitals are like rooms on each floor where electrons can be located.


Is an electron capture like beta decay?

Yes, when a proton in the nucleus captures an electron from the innermost shell (K shell) it is considered a form of antibeta decay.


How can bromine gain a stable outer electron shell?

Bromine can gain a stable outer electron shell by accepting one electron to fill its 4p orbital, achieving a full valence shell of eight electrons. This allows it to have the electron configuration of a noble gas, like argon, and become a stable ion.


When comparing the electron configurations of neon and fluorine what must happen for fluorine to become stable?

For fluorine to become stable, it needs to gain one electron to attain a full valence shell, similar to the electron configuration of neon. Fluorine has seven valence electrons in its outer shell, so gaining one electron would fill its outer shell and make it stable with a full octet like neon.


How can metal elements achieve a stable electron-shell structure like those of the noble gases?

Metal atoms achieve a stable electron shell structure by losing electrons to form positive ions. This electron loss allows them to attain a full outer electron shell like the noble gases. This process of losing electrons is known as metal atoms undergoing oxidation.


How many electrone would a chlorine atom have to lose in order to have a stable electrone arrangement like neon?

A chlorine atom would need to lose one electron to have a stable electron arrangement like neon, which has a full valence shell of electrons. Chlorine normally has 7 electrons, but by losing one electron, it will have 8 electrons in its outer shell, achieving stability.


Which group in the periodic table would need only 1 electron to be stable?

The elements in Group 7A (halogens) on the periodic table would need only 1 electron to achieve a stable electron configuration by filling their outermost shell with 8 electrons. For example, elements like fluorine, chlorine, and bromine each need only 1 more electron to reach stability.


Why does sodium loses an electron and attains 1 charge?

Sodium loses an electron to achieve a stable electron configuration like the nearest noble gas, which is neon. By losing one electron, sodium attains a full outer shell and becomes more stable with a positive 1 charge.


What element that has 1 electron?

Hydrogen has 1 electron in its outer shell. other elemnts also have just one electron in their outer shell, the alkali metals, group1; lithium, sodium potassium, rubidium, caesium, frankium the coinage metals, group 11; copper, silver, gold


How many electrons does sodium need to lose to become a noble gas element?

Sodium would need to lose one electron in order to obtain a full and stable outer shell, however it would be an ion with a positive charge