Re: Why is metal a better conductor than wood or plastic.

Jacob,

Metal works better as a conductor than wood or plastic because of the presence of conduction electrons which are able to spread the heat energy around the system. In general, materials which are good electrical conductors make good thermal conductors. You might take a look at "Conceptual Physics" by Hewitt for a more complete explanation. While I could not find anything on the Web that answers your questions, I did locate The Thermal Connection which has links to databases with thermal conductivity data.