The importance of good and bad conductors of heat

All metals are good conductors of heat and they are different in conducting the heat, which means that some metals conduct the heat faster than the other, The heat makes us comfortable and helps us to prepare our food and it is an interesting form of energy.

Heat conductors

Some materials allow the heat to flow through them and they are known as good conductors of heat or heat conductors such as iron, aluminum, copper, silver, brass, lead and stainless steel.

The metals are better conductors because they contain free electrons, the electrons move through the metal easily, They gain the kinetic energy from collisions with hot atoms and pass on the energy when they collide with cold atoms, This transfers the heat more quickly.

Leaving the spaces between the railway bars which are made of iron to avoid the train accidents where iron is a good conductor of heat, So, it expands and twists by the heat.

Metals are good conductors of heat.

The different metals differ in conducting the heat where copper conducts the heat faster than aluminum and aluminum conducts the heat faster than iron.

Heat insulators

Some materials do not allow the heat to flow through them and they are known as bad conductors of heat or heat insulators, The insulators are poor conductors of heat, The poor conductors are good insulators and they are materials that the heat can not travel through.

Heat insulators such as the wood, the glass, the paper, the wool, the rubber, the liquids, the plastic, the cork, styrofoam, the vacuum and the gases especially the air.

The people benefit from the air as an insulator material in keeping the heat in the cold countries, the air is used in making the insulating glass windows.

The insulating glass window is made by bonding two glass sheets and leaving a space filled with the air between them to prevent the leakage of the heat.

Usages of good and bad conductors of heat

Aluminum, copper and stainless steel are good heat conductors as they are metals, They are used in making cooking pots and the kettles that are used in the houses and the factories.

The cooking pots get heated up quickly and the food can be cooked efficiently in shorter time, Plastic and the wood are heat insulators, they are used in making the handles of the cooking pots, the iron and the kettles, They help in holding them comfortably.

The wool is a heat insulator which is used in making the heavy blankets and the wooden clothes, So, They are used in the winter to keep the body warm and prevent the leakage of the heat, The hair and the fur of animals are bad conductors of heat and they protect them from cold.

The vehicles carrying inflammable materials such as petrol are covered with the materials of bad conductors of heat to prevent petrol from heating up and catching the fire.

Building materials like the bricks, the asbestos and the mud are bad conductors of heat, they do not permit heat and cold to pass through the walls of the bricks.

The building materials keep the houses warm in the winter and cool in the summer and the roof sheds are made of asbestos for the same reason.

Solar energy (Sun), Ways of heat transfer (conduction, convection & radiation)

Physical & Chemical properties of Matter (Density, Melting point, Boiling point, Hardness, Electric & thermal conduction)

Metallic & nonmetallic property, Acidic & basic property in the periodic table 

Heat changes accompanying physical changes and Explanation of the source of the heat of solution

Heat Changes accompanying Chemical changes and Hess’s law of constant heat summation