Lippincott NursingCenter is a leader in providing clinical and professional peer-reviewed content to nurses and can help you meet your goals, whether youâre a new nurse starting out, or a seasoned nurse looking to stay up-to-date on the latest information.
Glass is far inferior to paper, plastic and Styrofoam in terms of insulation. Thermal conductivity in terms of BTU/(feet - hour - degrees F) is 1.82 for glass, 0.09 for paper, 0.06 for Styrofoam. The conductivity of plastics varies depending on the materials: for polypropylene and polycarbonate, the thermal conductivity values are 0.69 and 0.35, respectively.
For metals, the thermal conductivity is mainly a function of the motion of free electrons. As the temperature increases, the molecular vibrations increase (in turn decreasing the mean free path of molecules). So, they obstruct the flow of free electrons, thus reducing the conductivity. I just copied this from wiki.