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Cork insulation; a complete illustrated textbook on cork insulation ...

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\ drying<br />

' that<br />

REQUIREMENTS OF AN INSULATION 169<br />

it is broken up into great numbers of minute particles, so small<br />

in size that the effect of c<strong>on</strong>vecti<strong>on</strong> currents is reduced to a<br />

negligible quantit}'.<br />

C<strong>on</strong>sequently, in an efficient insulating material, air must<br />

be present in the very smallest possible units, such as atoms,<br />

so that c<strong>on</strong>vecti<strong>on</strong> is reduced to a minimum ; and since these<br />

atoms of air must each be c<strong>on</strong>fined, the use of a very light<br />

encompassing material having little density and thus very Iom^<br />

c<strong>on</strong>ducti<strong>on</strong>, is essential. Such an insulator will be as efficient<br />

from the standpoint of heat transfer as it is possible to obtain<br />

FIG. 47.—CORKBOARD UNDER POWERFUL MICROSCOPE, SHOWING<br />

CONCEALED AIR CELLS.<br />

is, a very light material c<strong>on</strong>taining myriads of micro-<br />

scopic air cells, each <strong>on</strong>e sealed unto itself.<br />

The outer bark of the <strong>cork</strong> oak was evidently provided by<br />

nature to prevent the sun's rays and the hot winds from<br />

up the life-sustaining sap that courses through the<br />

inner bark of this peculiar and remarkable tree ; and an exam-<br />

inati<strong>on</strong> under the microscope reveals the reas<strong>on</strong> why <strong>cork</strong> is<br />

such an excellent n<strong>on</strong>c<strong>on</strong>ductor of heat. It is found to be<br />

composed of countless air cells, so tiny and infinitesimal that<br />

it takes many milli<strong>on</strong>s of them to fill a cubic inch of space.<br />

Flow of heat bv c<strong>on</strong>vecti<strong>on</strong> is therefore reduced to the lowest<br />

;

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