What is the specific heat capacity of styrofoam?

1 Answer
A08
Apr 18, 2016

We need to remember that Styrofoam is a brand name.
It is actually a chemical compound polystyrene. Various values of its specific heat capacity are found. These are listed below.

Explanation:

#" " (cal//g °C) " "(J//kg K)#
Styrofoam #" "0.27 " "1131# Reference 1.

#" "(J.mol^-1.K^-1)#
Polystyrene#" " 126.5 ± 0.6# Reference 2.

The molar weight of the polystyrene taken as #104.15 g#
With this the recommended value of Polystyrene comes to #approx1215(J//kg K)#

One could use either of the above values depending on the accuracy desired. My preference would be the value given for Polystyrene under Reference 2.

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