Air in general is a good thermal insulator, but it can transmit heat through convection. However, if the air pockets inside the insulating material are separated from each other, heat flow from one air pocket to another cannot happen easily.

(PhysOrg.com) — With its complete lack of atoms, a vacuum is often considered to be the best known insulator. For this reason, vacuums are regularly used to reduce heat transfer, such as in the lining of a thermos to keep beverages hot or cold.

Down has a thermal conductivity of 0.025 and some of the more recent synthetic materials have thermal conductivity ratings of 0.03478 – more than double the rate of argon. This means that there is greater heat loss with these products than there is with argon – making it the better insulator.

Metals like aluminum are good at conducting heat. A thermos is good at keeping things cold because it cuts down on the passage of heat in all possible ways.

An aluminum foil keeps the food warm, but placing the foil directly on the object or food doesn’t help much. It doesn’t only keep the food warmer for long, but also keep things cold.It acts as barrier to the oxygen and air which can transfer heat to the cold or frozen food.

According to HowStuffWorks, aluminum foil is a good insulator because it prevents the radiation of heat by reflecting it back at the source. Since aluminum foil reflects the emission of heat, it tends to be a better insulator than other materials that just slow down the flow of heat from one area to another.

Aluminum does not keep things cold, but does act as a barrier to oxygen and vapor, which can transfer heat to the frozen food when it is exposed to air. Aluminum is known for being a good conductor, but it is also a good insulator, as it reflects the radiation of heat back to its source.

Cotton is a great thermal insulator – as long as it’s dry. Once wet, cotton becomes a poor insulator and does a poor job of preventing hypothermia -hence the old adage, “cotton kills”.

Cotton is a good heat insulator, provided that it is NOT IN VACUUM. First of all, please understand the fact that air is a very poor heat conductor. Cotton is made of loosely intertwined fibers, and between them a lot of air is trapped. This explains why cotton is a good heat insulator.

As the thermal conductivity of paper is low, we can conclude that paper is a good insulator. Paper reduces the convection, conduction and radiation of heat and therefore it is a good insulator of heat.

Well actually, pure water is an excellent insulator and does not conduct electricity. The thing is, you won’t find any pure water in nature, so don’t mix electricity and water.

Since pure water does not contain any impurities Ca, Mg, Na and other salts which behave as the charge carriers, there are no ions found, and there is the absence of electrons. Hence pure water does not conduct electricity and is an insulator.

This is because salt water is a good conductor of electricity which makes ocean water a resource for renewable energy. Salt molecules are made of sodium ions and chlorine ions. When you put salt in water, the water molecules pull the sodium and chlorine ions apart so they are floating freely.

Milk is a good conductor of electricity because it contains water and acid. So due to presence of water and lactic acid in milk, it is good conductor of electricity.

Milk is a good conductor of electricity because it contains water and lactic acids and other salts. Honey is a solution of sugars. So, it does not conduct because it does not have ions or charged particles.

Vinegar is an aqueous solution of acetic acid and is produced by the fermentation process of ethanol or sugars. Since it releases H+ and CH3COO- ions, movement of these ions in the solution aids in the conduction of electricity. Hence, we can say that vinegar is a good conductor of electricity.

Answer. Coconut oil is a non polar liquid (when liquid) and does not have any free electrons which can move when you apply a potential (voltage) across it. The same chemical properties that make it so oil and water don’t mix makes it so oil cannot conduct electricity. Hope it helped!