This has bothered me ever since I first heard the phrase as a kid.
If air is a good insulator, why do we fill things with insulating material? (Ex: walls with fiberglass, coats with cotton)
I realize these things are very porous, so hold a lot of air. But by them being used at all, must mean air isn’t that great on its own.
Is it just a matter of air is only “good” and other stuff is just even better? Or is it just considered good by being a bad conductor?
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Air is a good insulator, but because it’s fluid it can form convection currents which are good at moving heat. What the insulator does is to try to immobilize the air as much as possible to prevent the formation of these currents.
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