Question

Diamond is a bad conductor of electricity but a good conductor of heat.

• A. True
• B. False

Answer 1

Answer: (A)

The structure of diamond is shown in the figure. It can be clearly seen that each carbon atom in diamond is covalently bonded to four other carbon atoms, leaving no electrons to move freely and since electrical conductivity is due to movement of free electrons, hence diamond is a poor conductor of electricity

To the contrary, conduction of heat does not require free electrons but the vibration of the atom which passes from one atom to the other. Since in diamond, the motion of the atoms are strongly coupled, it can effectively conduct heat