World's Lightest Solid!

For Sunset Mobile The pores of airgel are also what makes it a good thermal insulator. (-three) - That's great. -Does this look attractive? - Definitely hot - You might think that because airgel is largely made up of air, like 99% air, that it has the same thermal properties as air, but that's not true. It is actually a better insulator than air. - This is because the width of the pores is smaller than the distance that air molecules travel on average before colliding with something. The so-called free path. Therefore, it is really difficult for the fast-moving hot air molecules beneath the airgel to diffuse and transfer heat to the top and this is called the Knudsen effect. - It's very strange because, you know, you don't expect something transparent to block heat well, but this really does - and that's why NASA used airgel insulation on the Sojourner Rover* *Sojourner Rover: a mobile robot that was Sent to Mars in 1997, on the Spirit and Opportunity missions, the Curiosity* rover has been extended for 3 months, and they plan to use it on future missions to Mars. *Spirit and UberTentity are names of robots used to explore Mars: why do we need isolation? (Refers to Mars) Electronics!

Not wanting the electronics to cool down during the cold nights on Mars, NASA also used the gel for more exotic purposes, notably to capture dust from a comet as part of the Stardust* mission. Stardust, a spacecraft launched in 1999, the particles traveled about six kilometers per second relative to the antenna. So when they hit the gel, because it's a very low density material, a very porous material, the particles actually go into the gel. , and they move through it, they are basically breaking the network. The interior that forms the gel and in this process they lose energy* *The material stops, so the dust particles enter the pores of the material and collide. leading to them losing their energy until they finally stop.

This is good for capturing particles, because if a particle like this hits a

solid

surface, it just stops, as it learns, instantly. -It just evaporates. - And it evaporates. -So should we expect to see aerogels in our daily lives any time soon? - One of my jokes is that when they design skyscrapers in Antarctica they will use airgel as thermal insulation. - Why do you say that? - Well, because they will care a lot about how well it insulates heat because it will be very cold in there. - correct. - So instead of having ten feet of fiberglass insulation, they could have six inches or something of airgel. - Scientists are currently working to reduce costs and increase durability. -And that is true.

They have some flexibility. - Good. - Yes, it is not difficult to break - They have already come a long way. For example, the original silica gel is soluble in water. Here it is, water-soluble gel. By doing this, has this piece of gel been ruined? - Almost, but there are ways to make it waterproof. So if you want to see that and all the next generation of aerogels, subscribe to the channel and this could be the beginning of the era of aerogels ♫ Translated by: Salman Alfuzai