Question

Despite living in cold arctic water, sea otters don't have much blubber insulation. Instead, they have the densest known fur (26,000 to 165,000 hairs/cm2, compared to 200-300 hairs/cm2 for human heads) which holds a lot of air. Air is a good insulator because

a. it has a high conductivity coefficient
b. it has a high heat capacity
c. it has a low conductivity coefficient
d. it has a low heat capacity

Answer 1

c. it has a low conductivity coefficient

Step-by-step explanation:

The conductivity coefficient indicates the ease through which heat can be transferred in a material.

Heat flux is given by

`q=-k\\abla T`

Where,

k = Thermal conductivity coefficient

`\\abla T` = Gradient in temperature

The thermal conductivity of blubber is 0.25 W/mK while the thermal conductivity of air is 0.02435 W/mK.

It can be seen that air has a lower thermal conductivity coefficient hence, sea otters can survive better if they use air instead of blubber.