Is Styrofoam the same as Styrofoam?
Hey, I have to build a calorimeter for school and it said heat-insulating material (styrofoam). I just wanted to use the packaging styrofoam that you get with packages and so on. Can I use that or do I need special styrofoam/material?
that's how I want to do it
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Yes and no, but you don't have to worry about it. That's the short answer 😉
"Styrofoam" is a trade name for a very specific product, originally brought to market by a specific company (BASF). In this sense, it's a unique name for a unique product. In fact, for trademark reasons, other companies that produce and sell essentially the same thing call it something different.
In our language, however, "Styrofoam" has become a generic term, just like "Tempo Tuch," for example, a colloquial term for all types of expanded rigid foam used, for example, as packaging material or insulation. Not all of these are the same; they can differ significantly chemically and microscopically.
But that shouldn't matter to you, because you simply need the insulating effect, or rather the low thermal conductivity. Most closed-cell foams, whether white, pink, or black, do that very well. The insulating effect comes from the structure with the large amount of trapped air. So whether it's Styrofoam or something else, it shouldn't matter to you.
Construction foam also works very well for this purpose 😉
Thank you