Insulation is an important part of the building process; we insulate our homes, schools and businesses to conserve energy. Insulation helps to help us cool in the summer and warm in the winter. Students were asked to design an insulating box, one that would keep ice cubes from melting using their choice of insulating materials: ~styrofoam ~cotton batting ~6 sheets of newspaper ~bubble wrap After leaving the containers over night, the class compared their results.

Question

Material Mass of Ice before (g) Mass of Ice after (g)
Cardboard 300 180
Newspaper 300 150
Styrofoam 300 285
Bubble wrap 300 230
Cotton batting 300 230

Ms. Greene, the instructor, provided a table showing the R value of common insulating materials. R-values are specific to all material, and tell us how thermally resistive a material is, in other words, how hard it is for heat to flow through that material. Here are the R-values of some common insulating materials.

Material Total R values
3 1/2 inch fiber glass batt 11.00
4 inch common brick 0.80
2x4 softwood lumber 4.38
Gypsum board (drywall) 0.45
Single pane glass window 0.91
3/4 polyurethane foam insulation board 4.0

Based on the information in the R-value chart, which material provided in class has the greatest R-value and which one had the lowest?

A greatest - newspaper; lowest styrofoamgreatest - newspaper; lowest styrofoam
B greatest - styrofoam; lowest - newspapergreatest - styrofoam; lowest - newspaper
C greatest - styrofoam; lowest - bubble wrapgreatest - styrofoam; lowest - bubble wrap
D greatest - cotton batting; lowest - cardboard

Answer 1

To determine which material has the greatest and lowest R-value from the provided information, we first note that the provided chart only lists the R-values for certain materials, but it does not include R-values for the specific insulating materials mentioned in the experiment (i.e., styrofoam, cotton batting, newspaper, and bubble wrap).

However, we can provide some general knowledge regarding the likely R-values for these materials, which can help us deduce the answer:

1. Styrofoam typically has high insulating properties, often with an R-value around 4 to 5 per inch.
2. Cotton batting usually has an R-value of about 3 to 4 per inch.
3. Newspaper is not as efficient and generally has an R-value around 1.0.
4. Bubble wrap has an R-value that can range, but it's typically lower than that of styrofoam and cotton batting, around 1.0 to 2.0 depending on its construction.

From these common R-value estimates, we can deduce that styrofoam likely has the greatest R-value, while newspaper and bubble wrap are on the lower end of the scale.

Therefore, the option that best matches this rationale is:

C: greatest - styrofoam; lowest - bubble wrap.