Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Do you have a reference for the definition of thermal ballast? Thermochemistry seems to be the source but the definition that I have seen seem to be describing an endothermic reaction. Not sure if they are the same thing or different. Also, is there a simple experiment to show thermal ballast? Thanks.

Hi ffmacias,

These forums are specifically for K-12 students, parents, and teachers working on science fair projects. Is your question related to a K-12 science fair project? If so, what is the hypothesis you are trying to test? If not, then a different set of online forums will be better able to help you.

That said, from a few minutes of research it looks like thermal ballast, as used in relationship to combustion, is used to describe non-combustible materials that serve, essentially, as heat sinks that prevent temperatures from increasing enough to start (or continue) combustion.