Why do conductors have a sea of electrons while insulators don't?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the differences between conductors and insulators, specifically focusing on the presence of a "sea of electrons" in conductors and why insulators do not exhibit this characteristic. The scope includes conceptual clarifications and technical explanations related to atomic bonding and electron behavior in different materials.

Discussion Character

  • Conceptual clarification
  • Technical explanation

Main Points Raised

  • One participant questions why conductors have a sea of electrons that absorb energy at normal temperatures, while insulators do not.
  • Another participant explains that in metallic conductors, atoms bond in a way that allows electrons to be shared completely, resulting in a sea of free charges that can move freely throughout the conductor.
  • A participant seeks clarification on the concept of "being shared completely" and how electrons can roam around in the material.
  • A link to an external resource on metallic bonding is provided to further explain the concept of electron mobility in conductors.
  • One participant expresses gratitude for the clarification and the instructions on how to quote posts in the discussion.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

The discussion contains questions and clarifications but does not present a consensus on the initial inquiry regarding energy absorption in conductors versus insulators. Multiple viewpoints and uncertainties remain regarding the underlying concepts.

Contextual Notes

The discussion does not resolve the assumptions about energy absorption and the specific mechanisms that differentiate conductors from insulators. The explanation of metallic bonding and electron behavior remains open to interpretation.

shihab-kol
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Why is a sea of electrons present in a conductor?
I read some where that they absorb a energy at normal temperatures and use it to get free electrons , but then why do they absorb energy while insulators don't??
 
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In metallic conductors the atoms bond together in a particular way that results in one or more electrons being shared completely between the atoms. The behavior of huge numbers of these electrons in a metal can be described as a "sea of free charges", meaning that they are free to roam around the entire conductor at will.

shihab-kol said:
I read some where that they absorb a energy at normal temperatures and use it to get free electrons , but then why do they absorb energy while insulators don't??

Conductors already have free electrons and don't need thermal energy to free the electrons from their atoms.
 
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Ok.
What do you mean by "being shared completely"? How do they roam around then?PS
How do you insert quotes?
 
shihab-kol said:
What do you mean by "being shared completely"? How do they roam around then?

Metallic bonding: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metallic_bonding

The sharing let's them move throughout the entire material freely. There's not much more I can say about that. See if the link above helps.

shihab-kol said:
How do you insert quotes?

Click "Reply" to quote the entire post. Highly text in a post and click "Reply" in the popup to quote that piece of text. Alternatively, you can click "Quote" instead to add that post or piece of text to a quote que. After adding text or posts to the quote que, you click "Insert Quotes" that appears in the bottom left of the reply box.
 
Thanks.
That helped and the quote part too!
 

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