Level 7: Insulating a home

Heat and matter · level 7 of 8 · rough age 15-16 (a guide for parents; anyone can start anywhere)

A home on Mars sits in air about 80 °C colder than its rooms. This level works out how fast heat leaks through walls, layers and windows, and by radiation from surfaces. Then it covers a habitat in Martian soil and builds a heating budget, which shows that a well-sealed Mars home may need cooling as much as heating.

Lesson	You will be able to
Heat loss through a wall	Use \(P = kA\Delta T/d\) for conduction through a wall
Layers and U-values	Add thermal resistances of layers and find a wall's U-value
Radiation from surfaces	Use \(P = \varepsilon\sigma A(T^4 - T_s^4)\) for heat radiated
Regolith as insulation	Size a soil cover for insulation, and compare its weight with the pressure inside
Windows and greenhouses	Compare the sunlight a Mars greenhouse gains with the heat it loses
A heating budget	Add up the heat a habitat loses and gains, and size its heater

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