Evaluation #5

Hello Professor,

Oh my! You gave me a good scare this afternoon. :)

Again I would like to focus my blog on the Lab. As we focused on thermodynamics I was able to realize how a simple solution such as insulation can have an immense effect on the reduction of CO2-emissions. 

Insulation is simply the barrier that prevents the three principle laws of heat transportation. As work is turned into heat, through the law of diffusion, it will disperse itself through the matter. This occurs as electrons get charged, vibrate, and pass off the energy to the next electron. As a result the energy contained in heat, will diffuse itself through the matter until all electrons are charged equally (or until the temperature has leveled itself through the matter). There are three different ways in which the heat energy can be transfered through matter: Conduction, convection, and radiation. 

Conduction occurs in solid matters, in which all molecules are in direct contact with each other. Yet just because a matter is solid, it does not necessarily mean that it will transfer heat or equalize the temperature throughout the matter. That depends on the properties of the material. For example Styrofoam will never conduct heat like copper does. The reason for this is the molecular structure and the position of the electrons in both materials. As the electrons of copper start vibrating and consequently distribute the heat throughout the object, the molecules of the styrofoam won't. The cause is that the phonons in the Styrofoam have such a low energy level, that the energy introduced through heat is not sufficient to get them to vibrate and distribute heat.  In copper the thermal conductance rate is very high and in styrofoam the thermal resistance is very high as well.

The second way in which heat energy is conducted through matter is convection. This type of heat transfer happens in fluids and as a cause of the law of diffusion. In liquids the particles in the matter are not bound as close together as the ones in the solid matter are. Yet heat is transmitted in the same principle. The energy added to some molecules will get them vibrating, as a result that vibration will exited the next molecule until all have the vibration in the particles, or simply the same temperature. The Brownian motion is a result of that.

The third and least common type of heat transfer is radiation. It occurs only in gaseous matter. Due to the fact that in gases, the direct connection of the electrons is missing, heat cannot be transfered like it is in conduction or convection. As a result, in radiation, the heat introduced into the electrons is converted into electromagnetic heat. Then heat is transmitted through frequencies, like infrared. 

The reason for which insulation is so fascinating, is because it prevents either conduction, convection, or radiation from taking place. That is why a vacuum is the best type of insulator. 

Yet, we are well aware that we could not build a vacuum around our house to prevent heat from leaving during the winter and from entering in the summer. As explained above, certain materials that are quite inexpensive can carry out the duty of insulation since their thermal resistance or R-value is high. Foam possesses such property. As a result, we should try to install as much as we can in our houses on the ceilings and walls so the most amount of heat possible will stay in the room and can be prevented from leaving. Consequently, less energy will be wasted in either the heating or air conditioning system and less emissions will be produced. 

Even though insulation foam, does not prevent conduction, convection or radiation like a vacuum does, it certainly lower the thermal conductivity rate. By installing more of it in our homes, we can certainly lower our carbon footprint!