Republic of the Philippines

Department of Education
Region III
SCHOOLS DIVISION OF ZAMBALES
Zone 6, Iba, Zambales
Tel/Fax No. (047) 6012-1391
Email Address: [email protected]
Website: www.depedzambales.ph

LEARNING ACTIVITY SHEET

ELECTRONICS AND ROBOTICS
Quarter 1 – Week 3
Insulators, Conductors, and Semiconductor

I. Introduction

Do you ever wonder how electricity is utilized in appliances and

electronic gadgets that we are using?
All materials are made of atoms. Atoms are made up of electrons,
protons, and neutrons. These atoms are so arranged to determine their
response to the flow of electricity. The electrons are responsible for the flow
of electricity. Some materials readily allow electricity to pass through,
however, some do not. In this lesson, you will learn more about the
properties of materials that allow them to let or hinder electricity from
passing through them.

II. Learning Competency

Compare conductors, insulators, and semiconductors in terms of
properties and uses.

III. Objectives
At the end of this learning activity sheet, you are expected to:
1. identify conductors, insulators, and semiconductors
2. compare and contrast the properties and uses of conductors,
insulators, and semiconductors; and
3. cite the importance of knowing the properties and uses of
conductors, insulators, and semiconductors
IV. Discussion

You may have already encountered conductors and insulators in

your previous science subjects. How do we know that a certain material
is a conductor or an insulator? For you to recall this, let us perform this
simple activity, adapted from Science Buddies (Staff 2020).

What Can Light It Up?

You will be needing: 3 AA Battery, AA Battery holder, 3 connecting

wires (with alligator clips), 1 flashlight bulb, and a bulb receptacle.

Attach the
materials to be
tested here.

(Staff 2020)

Figure 1: Simple circuit with batteries, alligator clips, and bulb in

the bulb receptacle

Procedure:

1. Connect your materials to produce a simple circuit as shown

below.
2. Gather some household materials and objects you will use to
test electrical conductivity. You can get some sheets of paper,
an aluminum sheet, a coffee mug, rubber bond, your comb,
and whatever you can find at home.
3. Attach each material in the set up using the unconnected
alligator clips to close the circuit. Refer to the figure above.
4. Observe the bulb. Take note which materials were able to light
it and which do not.
5. Remember to disconnect the material from your circuit as
soon as you are done testing, to prolong the life of your battery.

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 Guide Questions

1. Which among the materials caused the lightbulb to turn on?

2. What do you call these materials?
3. Which among the materials were not able to turn the light bulb
on?
4. What do you call these materials?

If you think that the materials that can turn the lightbulb on are the
conductors, and the ones that do not are the insulators, you are right!

Conductors are the wires that we use which allow the flow of
electricity and the insulator is wrapped around the wire so that we will
not be electrocuted when we use it. Based on your simple activity, you
may have noticed that even the materials that we have at home may also
be conductors and insulators. But the materials that we use every day,
like our appliances and our gadgets, do not just make use of conductors
and insulators but also semiconductors. These materials are categorized
as such due to their electrical properties.

Conductors, Insulators, and Semiconductors

Conductivity is the property of a material to allow the transmission

of electricity, heat, and sound. In contrast, resistivity is the property of
a material to prevent the flow of energy. Conductors are materials that
transmit or allow electricity, as well as heat, to flow through them. They
have high conductivity and low resistivity. Current flow through
conductors due to the presence of free electrons which are not strongly
attached to their nuclei. This is called the valence electron.

Figure 2: Atomic structure of a metal with one free electron on its valence shell.
Adapted from https://slideplayer.com

These good conductors are metals that have free electrons with
which voltage can act upon for electrical charges to flow easily. This is

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why wires are made up of copper, silver, aluminum, gold, and other
metals that are used as electrical connectors. They are mostly solids,
but some metals are liquid, like mercury. Some non-metals can conduct
electricity, but they are not as good as metals. Examples include
graphite, alloy, and electrolyte. Gases are poor conductors, but when
ionized, they can also become good conductors.

What makes metals good conductors? Metal atoms are held together
by metallic bonds wherein the valence electrons overlap with the
neighboring atoms. This results in delocalized electrons, meaning, the
electrons do not stay orbiting a specific atomic nucleus. Instead, they
are free to move from one atom to another. You can see from the figure
below how the valence electrons of Copper move freely from one atom
to another making it a good conductor that is used in our conducting
wires.

Figure 3: Flow of electrons in a copper wire

Adapted from: https://www.oreilly.com

Conductors are used not only in the conduction of electricity but

also in the transmission of heat. One example is the use of iron in the
manufacturing of vehicle engine for the conduction of heat. Aluminum
is best used in cooking utensils and in packing foods, while mercury is
used in thermometers.

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 Insulators, on the other hand, are materials in which electricity
cannot flow. They do not have free charge carriers, thus they are
nonconductive. It means that
they do not have free
electrons, thus electricity
cannot flow. They have
resistivity, but low
conductivity. Insulators have
covalent bonds that contain
localized electrons. These
Figure 4: Atomic structure of a
materials are used to protect
nonmetal with full valence shell.
or insulate us from electric
Adapted from https://slideplayer.com
shock. Since they do not
allow electricity and heat to
flow, they are used as protection. A typical example is the rubber that
is placed in kitchen utensils handles for us not to get burn when we
use it while cooking. Plastic, wood, and glass are other nonmetals that
are commonly used as insulators.

Figure 5: Comparison of conductor and insulator.

Adapted from https://www.oreilly.com

Another type of material that can conduct electricity which lies

between conductors and insulators are semiconductors. At low
temperatures and pure form, semiconductors are poor conductors.

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 Figure 6: Atomic structure of a semiconductor with full valence shell.
Adapted from https://slideplayer.com

The elemental semiconductors are composed of single species of

atoms, such as silicon (Si), germanium (Ge), and tin (Sn) in column IV
and selenium (Se) and tellurium (Te) in column VI of the periodic table.
There are, however, numerous compound semiconductors, which are
composed of two or more elements. (Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica
2019) Unlike metals, these elements have atoms with a valence electron
of four, which means that the atoms have four electrons in their
outermost shell. These elements do not easily gain or lose electrons.
Instead, the semiconductors share their four valence electrons with other
atoms to form covalent bonds.

How do we make semiconductors transmit electricity? To control the

flow of electrons, electrical charges are added to semiconductors. The
process of adding impurities to a pure semiconductor to induce
conductivity is called doping. Doping is done by putting an impurity to
make it deficient or excessive of electrical charges. When electrons are
added a negative or N-type material is produced. N-type materials are
created by adding a pentavalent element to the semiconductor.
Pentavalent elements have five valence electrons as in the figure below.

Figure 7: Addition of a pentavalent element to like Arsenic to Silicon adapted from:

https://s3.amazonaws.com

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 In the figure above, an impurity (another element) like arsenic, with
5 valence electrons is added to silicon. This will allow the four arsenic
valence electrons to bond with the silicon atoms. The fifth valence
electron left unbonded for each arsenic atom becomes available to
conduct current flow.

Figure 8: Addition of a trivalent element like Boron to Silicon

https://s3.amazonaws.com

Doping a semiconductor can also be done by adding an atom with

only 3 valence electrons such as boron. The 3 valence electrons will form
covalent bonds with its neighboring semiconductor atoms. But since
silicon has four valence electron one electron is missing to form the
fourth bond. This place where there is a missing electron is referred to
as a hole. The hole assumes a positive charge and therefore attracts
electrons. Holes become current carriers like electrons to support the
flow of current. When we add trivalent elements, having three electrons,
we produce a P-type material.

Figure 9: Movement of an electron hole in a crystal lattice.

Adapted from: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

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 Therefore, N-type materials have excess electrons and P-type have
a deficiency of electrons.

When these materials are combined, we form the electronic devices

we use in our electronic gadgets. A diode is formed when N-types and P-
type materials are joined. While a transistor is formed when we add
another layer which can be another p-type or another n-type.

The majority charge The majority charge

carriers in an N-type carriers in an N-type
material are electrons, material are protons,
represented by the dots represented by the holes

Because of these properties of semiconductors, they are used in

power devices, light emitters, and optical sensors. As they can handle
voltage and current, they are considered as future elements in
manufacturing electronic devices.

Figure 10: Typical range of conductivities for insulators, semiconductors, and conductors.
Adapted from: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Knowing the properties of conductors, insulators and

semiconductors help us understand how they are of great help in our
everyday life. It helps us understand how electricity, which is where our

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 life mostly depends now, works on these materials. It is also important
in understanding their appropriate use.

V. Activities
General Directions: Write all your answers in your activity
notebook.

A. What Am I?
Directions: Identify the materials given as conductor, insulator, or
semiconductor. Sort them on the table by writing their names on
the space provided.

Pencil

Crumpled paper
5-peso coin

Rubber band bottle

Gold necklace
thread

Diode
Wooden cube

Aluminum can Copper wire

transistor Light Emitting Diode

Table 1. Examples of Conductor, Insulator, and Semiconductor

Conductor Insulator Semiconductor

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 B. What Makes Us Alike and Unalike?

Directions: Complete the table by comparing and contrasting

conductors, insulators, and semiconductors on the bases given.

Table 2: Comparison of Conductor, Insulator, and Semiconductor

Bases of
Conductor Insulator Semiconductor
comparison

Conductivity High

Resistivity Moderate

Caused by free
Current flow
electrons

Type of bonds Covalent bond

Conducting Electronic
Uses
wire devices

Examples Rubber, Silicon,

plastic, Mica germanium

Guide questions:
1. What makes the conductors, insulators, and semiconductors
alike or the same?

_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________

2. What makes the conductors, insulators, and semiconductors

unalike or different?
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________

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C. Crossword puzzle
Directions: Fill in the crossword puzzle using the hints across and
down.

Created using the Crossword Maker on TheTeachersCorner.net

Across
3. allows heat and electricity to flow
4. bond of semiconductors
6. does not allow heat and electricity to flow
7. examples are silicon and germanium
8. element with five valence electrons
9. bond type of conductors

Down
1. addition of impurities
2. the ability to transmit heat and electricity
5. carrier of charge
9. good conductors

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 D. Word Search

Directions: Search for the words which are found in the discussion. It can be
horizontal, vertical, or diagonal. The words are given below. You can check
the words that you have already found so that you will not be lost.

CONDUCTOR RESISTIVITY METAL

INSULATOR ELECTRONS COVALENT
SEMICONDUCTOR DIODE CONDUCTIVITY
TRANSISTOR

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 Activity E. Double Puzzle

Directions: Unscramble the letters of each of the clue words, then copy the
letters of the numbered cells to the other cells with the same number below
to reveal the hidden quote.

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VI. Assessment
Directions: Read and analyze the questions carefully. Choose the
letter of the correct answer.
1. What materials allow electricity as well as heat to flow through
them?
a. Conductors c. Semiconductors
b. Insulators d. All of the above
2. Which of the following statements is TRUE about conductors?
I. They have high conductivity II. They have high resistivity
a. both I and II are true c. only I is true
b. both I and II are false d. only II is true
3. Which of the following examples is a conductor of electricity?
a. Graphite b. Glass c. Mica d. Diamond
4. Which of the following is the most conductive element?
a. Silicon b. Iron c. Carbon d. Hydrogen
5. Which of the following is the most used conductor in electrical
wiring and electronic circuits?
a. Silver b. Lead c. Copper d. Zinc
6. Which of the following DOES NOT belong to the group?
a. . c.

b. d.
7. What do you call the property of a material to resist the flow of
energy?
a. Conductivity c. Insulativity
b. Resistivity d. Transmitability
8. The following are examples of insulators EXCEPT
a. . c.

b. . d.

9. These materials are used for protection against high voltages and
prevention of electrical short between cables in circuits?
a. Conductors c. Semiconductor
b. Insulator d. All of the above

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10. Why are insulators important?
a. They help conduct heat.
b. They help regulate the flow of electricity.
c. They provide power for electric circuits.
d. They are used to protect us from electricity.
11. What is a P-type semiconductor deficient of?
a. Protons b. Neutrons c. Electrons d. Atoms
12. Semi-conductors gain electrical conductivity when added with
impurities, as shown in the figure below, what do you call this
process?

Adapted from: hyperphysics.com

a. Doping b. Impuring c. Wasting d. Bonding

13. Pentavalent elements have how many excess electrons?
a. Three b. Four c. Five d. Six
14. All the statements are true EXCEPT?
I. Conductors have one to three valence electrons in
the outermost shell.
II. Insulators have eight valence electrons in the
outermost shell.
III. Semiconductors have five valence electrons in the
outermost shell.
a. I only b. II only c. III only d. I, II, and III
15. Which of the following are TRUE properties of semiconductors?
a. Semiconductor may act as conductor as well as insulator.
b. The conduction in a semiconductor is due to the movement
of electrons.
c. The resistance of semiconductor increases as the
temperatures increases.
d. None of the above.

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 VII. Reflection
Directions: As a student, you are so exposed and mostly rely on
electricity in your everyday life. Conductors, insulators, and
semiconductors are always part of your everyday routine. Identify
the underlined words as to conductor, insulator, or semiconductor.

Tired and nervous from the routine of life you return from school
at night. You unlock the door, drag your feet in and hit the lights
(___________________, ___________________). You brush the sole of your
shoes (___________________) on the carpet (___________________) and your
soul finds rest on the couch. You reach for the remote control
(___________________) on the table and a sharp crisp zap discharges the
electrostatic energy in your body (___________________) to the steel
structure (___________________) of the table in front of you. You open the
television (___________________), to watch the news, while watching you
reach for your cellphone (___________________) to see who sent you a
message. Sleepy and tired you reach out for the blanket
(___________________) and dozed off to sleep.

VIII. References

n.d. Accessed August 11, 2020. https://s3.amazonaws.com.

n.d. Accessed August 11, 2020. https://slideplayer.com.
n.d. Accessed August 11, 2020. https://www.oreilly.com.
n.d. Accessed August 11, 2020. https://lh3.googleusercontent.com.
2019. "15 Differences Between Conductors, Insulators and semiconductors
with Examples." Vivadifferences website. Accessed August 7, 2020.
http://www.vivadifferences.com.
2020. Busyteacher.org. Accessed August 11, 2020. https://busyteacher.org.
C., Rachna. 2019. "Difference Between Conductors, Semiconductors and
Insulators." Biodifferences Website. November 14. Accessed August 6,
2020. http://www.biodifferences.com.
2020. "Conductor, Insulator and Semiconductor." QS Study. Accessed
August 7, 2020. http:// www.qsstudy.com.
2015. "Conductors and Insulators." the physics Classroom. Accessed August
8, 2020. http://www.physicsclassroom.com.
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Illinois
urbana-Champaign. 2019. "Scientific Principles: Conductors,

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 Insulators, Semiconductors." MAST Module Website. Accessed August
7, 2020. http://matse1.matse.illinois.edu.
Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica. 2019. "Semiconductor." Encyclopedia
Britannica. January 25. Accessed August 15, 2020.
https://www.britannica.com/sciencce/conductor.
Nelson, Ken. n.d. "Physics for Kids: Electrical Conductors and Insulators."
Ducksters, Technological Solutions, Inc. (TSI). Accessed August 8, 2020.
http://www.ducksters.com.
Paull, O. 2017. "Similarities Between Conductors and Insulators." Sciencing
Web site. April 25. Accessed August 7, 2020.
http://www.sciencing.com.
2000. "Semiconductor doping." Hyper Physics site. August. Accessed August
15, 2020. http;//www.hyperphysics.phy-
astr.gsu.edu/hbase/solids/dope.html.
Staff, Science Buddies. 2020. "Which Materials are the Best Conductors?"
Science Buddies. June 23. Accessed August 8, 2020.
https://www.sciencebuddies.org.

Prepared by:

EDNA A. CALIMLIM
Teacher III
ZNHS

17
 IX. Answer Key
A: What Am I?
Conductor Insulator Semiconductor
Pencil Crumpled paper Diode
5-peso coin Rubber Band Transistor
Gold necklace Bottle Light-emitting diode
Aluminum can Thread
Copper wire Wooden cube

B. What makes us alike and unalike?

Bases of Conductor Insulator Semiconductor
comparison
Conductivity High Low Moderate
Resistivity Low Very High Moderate
Current flow Caused by No flow of Caused by free
free current electrons and holes
electrons
Type of bonds Metallic Covalent bond Covalent bond
bond
Uses Conducting Insulating Electronic devices
wire material
Examples Metals e.g. Rubber silicon
Gold, Silver,
Copper

C. Crossword puzzle D. Word Search

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Activity E. Double Puzzle

Original words: conductor, insulator, semiconductor, trivalent, pentavalent, electrons, resistivity,

conductivity, doping, holes

Final word or phrase: The new electronic independence re-creates the world in the image of a
global village. -Marshall McLuhan

Assessment

1. A
2. C
3. A
4. B
5. C
6. D
7. B
8. B
9. B
10. C
11. C
12. A
13. C
14. C
15. A

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