Dissipation factor

Dissipation factor is a little bit like when you're blowing up a balloon and you let go of the neck and all the air comes out really fast. It's a measure of how quickly energy gets lost in something when electricity is moving through it.

You know how there's friction when you rub your hands together? That's kind of what happens when electricity travels through something - it rubs against the material and some of the energy turns into heat instead of making the electricity work like it's supposed to. This "loss" of energy is what we call dissipation factor.

Think of it like a hose that's spraying water - if the hose has holes or is damaged, some of the water will leak out and the flow won't be as strong as it should be. Similarly, if something has a high dissipation factor, it means that some of the electrical energy isn't going where it's supposed to be going and is instead getting lost as heat.

So, just like you want a hose without any holes so you can spray water where you want it, you want materials with a low dissipation factor so that electricity goes where it's supposed to go and doesn't get wasted as heat.