Conductors and Insulators> Dirt roads are bumpy and slow. Only a few cars can get through at a time. New, paved highways are smooth and fast. Plenty of traffic can move through. Which would you rather travel? Whenever it can, electric current takes the fast, easy route, naturally.
A conductor is any material that provides an easy path for electricity to flow. Metals are great conductors. That’s why lightning rods and electrical wires are made of metal. Saltwater is also a pretty good conductor (but not as good as metal).
Insulators are the opposite of conductors. Instead of helping electric current to move, they stop it. Insulators act a bit like guard rails along a busy highway. They are used to keep electricity from traveling where you don’t want it to go.
Many electric wires are wrapped in plastic, a very good insulator. As electricity zips through the wire, the plastic holds it inside. Some wires have more than one conductor in them, and insulators prevent the different conductors from touching each other. Because the electricity can’t travel through the insulator, it zooms down the conductors instead.
Silk, sand, glass, wood, and rubber are some other kinds of good insulators.
