Question

Graphite is a non metal . But still it conducts electricity. Explain.

Answer 1

We all know that graphite is an allotrope of carbon. The structure of graphite gives us an idea about the conductivity of electricity by graphite.

Complete step by step answer:
The carbon atoms in graphite are connected by covalent bonds, where each adjacent pair of atoms share two electrons (one from each) in the area between them. Those electrons are essentially trapped in the space of the bond, between the two atoms, and unable to move.
Metals form metallic bonds, where each atom contributes one or more electrons to a sea of electrons within the material. The electrons are all free to move throughout the bulk of the metal, and not associated with or localized to any specific atom. The positive ions that remain pack together closely, bound by the shared environment of negative charges.
Graphite is a good conductor, because the structure of the flat sheets of graphite require each carbon atom to use three electrons for bonding, but each carbon atom has four valence electrons that can be easily separated from the atom.
Therefore we can say that graphite conducts electricity because of the three of the available valence electrons forming covalent bonds leaving one spare electron, which then becomes delocalized.

Note: We should also know that, usually metals are considered as good conductors of electricity due to the presence of large amounts of free electrons in their structure. However, graphite is the only non metal, which conducts electricity, due to the delocalized electron, in the structure.