Question

Plastic wire is
(A) Insulator
(B) Conductor
(C) Both of those
(D) None of those

Answer 1

Hint Understand the difference between insulator and conductor. Insulators are materials that doesn’t allow the flow of current or electricity through it, whereas conductors are materials that allow the flow of current or electricity through it.

Complete Step by step Solution
Conductors are materials that conduct electric current easily due to presence of free electrons. It is quite easy to understand that all metals are conductors of electricity due to the presence of free electrons present in their shells. Some non metals are also good conductors, like graphite which consists of free electrons in their structure. Human body is a passive conduct of electricity or heat . Humans conduct electricity due to the closure of circuits , when they stand on the ground.
Insulators on the other hand, won’t allow flow of charges through it. It is understandable that the atoms present in the insulator material have tightly packed electrons , and absence of any free electrons. There are several examples of insulators. Plastics are synthetic materials. Plastics hold tight to all their electrons and have a rigid structure.
Given is a plastic wire, which falls under the insulator category. Plastics can’t be conductors due to absence of electrons. This insulating property of plastics has helped it to be used frequently as a coating for wires and substitutes for metals under several applications. Along with plastics, rubber is also used to coat wires due to their insulating property.

Thus, option (A) is the correct answer for the given question.

Note Graphite is a good conductor of electricity because , in the structure of graphite molecules, there is a presence of one valence electron in each carbon to carbon bond. Among the complex carbon structure examples, diamond is an insulator due to absence of valence electrons.