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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All the stuff about trapping air is absolutely the primary. It might also be worth noting, air isn’t made of very much. Having a larger thermal mass creates more stable temperatures as it takes more energy to change the object being heated. I dunno how to ELI5 this but I can give it a shot.
ELI5: The more of something there is, the longer it takes to change its temperature. So using insulation adds more stuff to be heated.
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