Now imagine there are 1 billion bubbles between you and the other person. It's going to be pretty hard for that heat to reach them. That is how styrofoam stops heat through convection or the flowing of heat.
Air is also a poor conductor of heat so heat struggles to be transferred from one air pocket to the next. According to Wikipedia the R value of cheap styrofoam expanded polystyrene for an inch of thickness is between R 0. The real brand of styrofoam extruded polystyrene is a better insulator with an R value for an inch of thickness between R 0.
Compare this to something like cardboard which has an insulation value of R 0. While styrofoam is a good insulator it is not the best insulator out there and there are other options that work much better than styrofoam.
The branded styrofoam or extruded polystyrene works better than the cheap white styrofoam that is made up of lots of little balls. Polyurethane, which is the insulation used in Yeti coolers , is also a much better insulator than styrofoam with an R value of R 0. Silica aerogel is better again with an insulating value of R 1. The best insulator is actually a vacuum insulated panel which has an insulation value of R 5.
However, a perfect vacuum is nearly impossible to achieve, but you can come quite close. To survive in the Antarctic, keeping warm becomes a very important focus , and insulation is a major factor in achieving this. Heat is lost in one of three ways — in each situation, heat moves from a hotter object to a colder one:. Keeping warm involves stopping the transfer of heat from one object to another.
This can be done by insulating the object. Keeping the inside of buildings warm and people warm can be done by covering them or any other object in layers of an insulator.
Trapping air in layers is a very effective way of insulating an object. Cats fluff up their fur and birds do the same to their feathers when it is cold. This makes it very popular in any industry that requires any type of temperature regulation. Here are some examples of where styrofoam is used:. So is styrofoam a good insulator?
The answer is yes, it is a very good insulator with lots of popular applications. This is because it is made up mostly of air, is cheap, and is very durable. It works as an insulator by trapping heat in its many air bubbles, which prevents it from transferring to other surfaces and mediums through convection. Your email address will not be published. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.
Leave a Reply Cancel reply Your email address will not be published. Welcome to Soundproof Panda, I'm Dan, I live very close to an internationally famous stadium which generates an awful lot of noise that I'd rather block out. Therefore, foam can be particularly hazardous during construction or renovation, as it is often exposed. Putting air leaks to rest is best done with spray foam insulation, which can be applied directly to reduce unwanted air and heat transfer from occurring.
The material is capable of expanding to times its liquid volume, thus filling cracks, gaps, holes, and crevices effectively. The goal is to keep the inside face of the foam sheathing above the dew point of the interior air.
If the wall cavity get wet for any reason, then the wall will need to dry primarily to the interior. Aluminum foil, also called tin foil, makes an excellent insulator, and in some situations, it works better than materials like cotton or paper.
Insulators have strong bonds that hold their particles rigidly in place. This prevents particles from gaining energy and increasing the temperature. Wool, dry air, plastics, and polystyrene foam are all examples of good insulators. Materials that do not insulate well are called conductors. Styrofoam is primarily made of air. This makes it a poor conductor of heat but an excellent insulator.
Plastic, rubber, wood, and ceramics are good insulators.
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