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> Space Shuttle thermal tiles conduct heat so poorly that (...) This is nitpicking but it seems odd to use a negative value adjective like "poorly" as if high
by hnarn 7y ago
> Space Shuttle thermal tiles conduct heat so poorly that (...)
This is nitpicking but it seems odd to use a negative value adjective like "poorly" as if high thermal conductivity would then be "excellent", instead of just saying something neutral like "low heat conductivity". I don't know, it just struck me as odd.
- dzamie 7y agoIt's vernacular, at least. People say copper conducts electricity well, so something with low conductivity would conduct poorly
- hnarn 7y agoSure, but in the case of copper you want to conduct electricity, so it makes sense to say that it conducts it "well". In the case where you want to avoid head conduction, like when re-entering the atmosphere, you don't want heat to be conducted, so a "poor" conduction is actually "good". I thought it sounded a bit odd, but since I'm being downvoted I'm assuming not many people agree, I thought I'd just point out that I thought it was interesting and/or caused some dissonance for me at least as a reader.
- dwighttk 7y agoyou might not want copper to conduct electricity if it were conducting electricity to your body.
- hnarn 7y agoThat's my point. If you're designing a suit that should stop yourself from being electrocuted it sounds weird saying that copper has "excellent" conductivity, it's not really excellent in the context you're talking about.
- dwighttk 7y ago"Copper has excellent conductivity therefore it wouldn't be a great material to make a suit out of if you want to stop yourself from being electrocuted... You'd want a material that was an excellent insulator!"
- hnarn 7y agoAs I've said, it sounds weird to me but apparently not to you so let's leave it at that.
- DonHopkins 7y agoSpace Shuttle thermal tiles "misconduct" heat well, to put a positive spin on it.
- hnarn 7y agoThat's a funny term, and that's kind of what I'm talking about, as a reader it causes discord to me when positive adjectives are used to describe something that is unwanted, but "misconducting" heat is an example of exactly what you want to happen in the scenario.
- BenjiWiebe 7y agoIt blocks heat well, or conducts heat poorly. Too me the second option actually sounds better.
- hnarn 7y agoTo my ears it's kind of like describing a shield as being really bad at letting arrows through, but I yield as I seem to be outnumbered.