Science 11

A company of building contractors hired a set of researchers to determine which materials would best serve as insulators in a new housing development. To determine the factors affecting insulation quality, the researchers placed samples of various materials between two heated plates, P1 and P2, both held at constant temperature. Heat was transferred from the hotter plate, through the sample, to the cooler plate. This heat flow was measured (J/sec ) and recorded in Table 1.