Passage V

Researchers conducted an experiment to determine the factors affecting heat flow. In each trial, one or more blocks of a particular material was (were) placed between two walls at constant temperatures T1 and T2 in one of the configurations shown in Figure 1. Heat was transferred through the block(s) from the hotter wall to the cooler wall. This heat flow, measured in joules per second (J/sec), is shown in Table 1.

(Note: All blocks used in the experiment were identical in size and shape. In each configuration, the contact area was the surface area of the end of the block(s) against one wall.)

26. Insulators are materials that are poor heat conductors. According to Trials 7 through 10, a wall of a given thickness built of which of the following materials would provide the best insulation between a room and the outdoors?

Answer and Explanation

Your Answer is

Correct Answer is F

Explanation

With the same configuration, when the temperature difference between T1 and T2 is the same, the best insulator should correspond to the smallest heat flow in table 1. Compared with trails 7, 8, 9, and 10 in table 1, it is found that the heat flow of wood is the smallest