# Good conductor of electricity but bad conductor of heat ? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 13, 2002, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-conductor-of-electricity-but-bad-conductor-of-heat/142514 "2002-12-13T15:28:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![andy\_fl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/49beb7/32.png) [@andy\_fl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andy_fl)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2002, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-conductor-of-electricity-but-bad-conductor-of-heat/142514/1 "2002-12-13T15:28:13Z")
Is there any solid material which satisfies that ? Also, is there a good conductor of heat but bad conductor of electricity ? (maybe mica sheets ?) ---
**Author:** ![Aro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b3f665/32.png) [@Aro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aro)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2002, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-conductor-of-electricity-but-bad-conductor-of-heat/142514/2 "2002-12-13T15:32:36Z")
Diamond qualifies for the first, IIRC. ---
**Author:** ![Aro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b3f665/32.png) [@Aro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aro)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2002, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-conductor-of-electricity-but-bad-conductor-of-heat/142514/3 "2002-12-13T15:33:39Z")
Oops, I meant the second. i.e. it is a good heat conductor, but a poor electricity conductor. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2002, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-conductor-of-electricity-but-bad-conductor-of-heat/142514/4 "2002-12-13T15:38:16Z")
Water conducts electricity well, but heat more slowly. Soil conducts heat fairly well, but conducts electricity poorly. Are you building something? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2002, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-conductor-of-electricity-but-bad-conductor-of-heat/142514/5 "2002-12-13T15:41:46Z")
Titanium is a poor conductor of heat, compared to many other metallic elements. ---
**Author:** ![dudemanjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/49beb7/32.png) [@dudemanjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dudemanjack)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2002, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-conductor-of-electricity-but-bad-conductor-of-heat/142514/6 "2002-12-13T15:43:07Z")
Distilled water doesn’t conduct electricity ---
**Author:** ![Padeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2002, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-conductor-of-electricity-but-bad-conductor-of-heat/142514/7 "2002-12-13T15:44:26Z")
Water and soil are iffy examples. Water’s conductivity is dependant on dissolved solids and soil conductivity is very dependant on moisture. ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2002, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-conductor-of-electricity-but-bad-conductor-of-heat/142514/8 "2002-12-13T15:57:02Z")
The OP asked for solids, and I don’t think he meant “mixtures of solids that, by virtue of being divided into tiny particles, have thermal properties different from their constituent solids.” So water and soil are out, regardless of their properties. I do think that solids that are inherently subdivided, like cork or asbestos, would be part of this group (although they don’t have anything else to do with this answer). Conducting heat very poorly generally requires a noncontinuous structure; amorphous solids and fibrous materials are used for thermal insulation for this reason. Conducting electricity very well generally requires a continuous structure, with lots of not-very-well-bound electrons; metals are, of course, the prime example. I can only think that some sort of doped ceramic would do it, but I don’t know of any naturally occurring compounds. Sorry. [sub]I don’t even know why I responded; I don’t know anything about materials.[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2002, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-conductor-of-electricity-but-bad-conductor-of-heat/142514/9 "2002-12-13T15:58:37Z")
Maybe it would help if he would tell us why he wanted to know. ---
**Author:** ![owlstretchingtime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/958977/32.png) [@owlstretchingtime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/owlstretchingtime)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2002, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-conductor-of-electricity-but-bad-conductor-of-heat/142514/10 "2002-12-13T16:03:35Z")
Graphite? ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2002, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-conductor-of-electricity-but-bad-conductor-of-heat/142514/11 "2002-12-14T01:42:18Z")
I am not sure but believe it’s hard to conduct electricity well without also conducting heat well because heat and electricity share much in common on the level of interatomic structure. But a number of things are excellent conductors of heat without conducting electricity. Diamond is by far the best heat conductor. Alumina is pretty good and alot more convenient to design with. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2002, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-conductor-of-electricity-but-bad-conductor-of-heat/142514/12 "2002-12-14T02:18:12Z")
Aren’t superconductors made from ceramics? Does anyone know if they have low thermal conductivity? ---
**Author:** ![X\_Slayer\_ALE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/bbe5ce/32.png) [@X\_Slayer\_ALE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/X_Slayer_ALE)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2002, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-conductor-of-electricity-but-bad-conductor-of-heat/142514/13 "2002-12-14T02:37:37Z")
It would be any metal that has a very low melting point. Since it would melt first before conducting the heat anywhere else. I can hold solder a few inches from where I am melting it with a sodering iron and I dont feel the heat from the solder. It conducts electricity perfectly. ---
**Author:** ![Padeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2002, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-conductor-of-electricity-but-bad-conductor-of-heat/142514/14 "2002-12-14T03:17:38Z")
Your wire of solder is a poor example because a few inches has plenty of surface area to radiate heat away before it reaches your fingers. ---
**Author:** ![WarmNPrickly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d78d45/32.png) [@WarmNPrickly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WarmNPrickly)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2002, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-conductor-of-electricity-but-bad-conductor-of-heat/142514/15 "2002-12-14T03:33:29Z")
Polyacetylene doped with some cation or anion would be a good electricity conductor and an awful insuloator. Any one of those conducting polymers for that matter. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2002, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-conductor-of-electricity-but-bad-conductor-of-heat/142514/16 "2002-12-14T12:32:42Z")
[Aluminum nitride ceramic](http://www.htm-reetz.de/0235.php4?lang=en) is an electrical insulator with very high thermal conductivity. It’s used as substrates for high-power semiconductor components, among other things.