Why is Styrofoam a good insulator?
Insulation is any material used to reduce or “slow down” or “resist” the flow of energy. There are several different types of insulators: Thermal insulators reduce the flow of heat. Electrical insulators reduce the flow of electricity. Acoustical insulators reduce the flow of sound. A material may insulate well in more than one way. Some materials, such as diamond, are superb insulators in one way (electrical), but extremely poor insulators in another way (thermal). A purified synthetic diamond conducts heat even better than copper, and has the highest thermal conductivity of any known solid at room temperature. Thus it is the worst thermal insulator known that’s solid at room temperature. Heat is the internal kinetic, vibrational energy that all materials contain (except at absolute zero). Heat spontaneously flows from a high temperature region to a low temperature region, and the greatest heat flow occurs through the path of least resistance. The proximity of a high temperature regio
