thermal insulation
What thermal insulation means in Physics GCSE, as defined for AQA, OCR.
Definitions of thermal insulation
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Reference: AQA
A material such as a fibreglass jacket around a hot water tank lowers the thermal conductivity and cuts the rate at which energy passes to the surroundings.
Reduces unwanted transfer by conduction, convection and radiation from a warm object such as a house to the cooler surroundings.
Topics that use thermal insulation
- Energy transfers in a system (AQA GCSE)
- Power and efficiency (OCR GCSE)
Related terms
- Efficiency
- Lubrication
- Rate of energy transfer
- thermal conductivity
- Battery as chemical store versus mains a.c. supply
- comparing insulators
- conduction
- Conservation of energy
Using thermal insulation in the exam
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