Question

Covalent compounds are generally:

• A. good conductors of electricity
• B. bad conductors of electricity
• C. semiconductors of electricity
• D. none of these

Answer 1

Answer: (B)

bad conductors of electricity

The electrons in the outermost shell of the covalent compounds are shared by the near by atoms. As there are no free electrons (only at absolute zero) for conducting electricity, the covalentcompounds are perfect insulators at absolute zero. As the temperature increases, some electrons movefrom valence band to conduction band. This gives rise to the conductivity. But, as the number of charge carriers are very low, covalent compounds are poor conductors.