Lesson 4: Conducting Fullerenes

Certain materials are conductors of electricity, while others act as insulators and inhibit the movement of electrons. The chemical structure of a molecule generally gives rise to its ability to act as a conductor or an insulator. Can you conduct an investigation to determine if C₆₀ is an insulator or conductor and how temperature affects conductivity?

Doing the science

1. Start the Buckyball Simulation by clicking on the "Sim" tab.
2. Click on the fullerene (C₆₀) container and drag a chunk to the empty beaker on the tabletop.
3. Click the "On" button on the Conductivity and Cooling device. If "No Data" appears, the material is an insulator. If data does appear in the graph area indicating the material is a conductor, click the graph area to enlarge the graph for detailed study. Note and record in Table 1 the conductivity properties of C₆₀.
4. Click the "X" in the upper right-hand corner of the Graph screen to return to the lab testing area.
5. Click the "Reset" button at the bottom of the screen.
6. Repeat steps 2 – 4, except test the remaining materials and combinations described in Table 1 instead of using fullerene. Make sure to note and record your data in Table 1.