Posted by Gerry on November 21, 2000 at 09:16:23:
In Reply to: Vacuum an insulator??? of sound maybe posted by right on November 20, 2000 at 18:37:24:
I spoke too quickly, your physics are correct, but mis applied. Conduction, convection and radiation. Pure vacuum stops the first two cold (grin), and whatever we use to "package" the vacuum would slow radiation. It wouldn't be perfect, but if we could wrap a vacuum in something flexible, we would have the nearest thing possible to a perfect insulator (at the temps we are considering.) Why is a Dewar (vacuum) flask the best way to keep liquid gases cold? Think Thermos bottle.
GS