Answer to Question #158239 in General Chemistry for Kim Bautista

Question

You are given a gaseous substance which boils at -161°c. It is flammable and can be used as fuel. Do you expect this substance to conduct electricity in the liquid state? Justify your answer

Answer 1

Yes ,

Gases do conduct electricity, as all materials do. However, they conduct electricity so poorly that we consider them insulators. "Electricity" requires the movement of electrons. In a gas, these electrons are too dispersed to provided any measurable current. The "lightning" example is slightly different. This refers to capacitative discharge. When the two sides of a capacitor (i.e. the ground and the clouds) store too much charge, that charge eventually jumps the dielectric (i.e. the stuff in between the ground and clouds). We still don't say that the dielectric "conducts" electricity, although it obviously does. The best insulators in the world could not stop a discharge of sufficient strength. The defining quality of a conductor is that it conducts electricity "more easily" than most substances. There is no perfect conductor or perfect insulator. In short, gases can conduct electricity, but they are considered insulators for the most part.