How to Distinguish Between an Insulator and a Semiconductor Metal

Connect the multimeter's leads. The red lead should go in the jack marked "Volt." The black lead should go in the jack marked "COM."

Turn the multimeter's dial to measure resistance, indicated by the Greek letter omega.

Touch the leads to the material, approximately a foot apart.

Note the measurement. For example, assume you got a measurement of 2,000 ohms.

Enter this value into the formula "R = pL/A" where R is the measurement in ohms, p is the length of the material in centimeters and A is the cross-sectional area derived from the radius of a circle, pi(r)^2. Assume the material was 2 centimeters across. This gives you an area of 12.56 centimeters.

Solve for p. When you substitute the values, you get "2,000 = 30.48p/12.56." Multiplying the two sides of the equation by 12.56 leaves 25,120 = 30.48p. Divide by 30.48p to get 824.146 ohms per centimeter. Multiply this number by 100 to convert the measurement to ohms per meter.

Check against the known range of semiconductor resistivity. Semiconductors' resisitivity ranges from 10^-6 to 10^4 ohms/meter. 82,414.6 ohms/meter falls above the range of a semiconductor; this material is an insulator rather than a semiconductor.