computing in a vacuum?

[Okjoek]

In the emptiness of a vacuum such as outer space how would you keep a CPU cool without air or anything to go through the fins and take the heat away from them? Would the heat manage to leave on its own or would the system begin overheating?

 

Sorry for putting this in "air" cooling even though my question implies that there is none, I was just curious.

[Enderman]

You would need an object of enough mass to absorb the heat, because there's no air to transfer it to.

[Okjoek]

Just now, Enderman said:

You would need an object of enough mass to absorb the heat, because there's no air to transfer it to.

But wouldn't the heat still radiate away like it does from our own sun?

[FredyBobJoe]

A lot of the heat we gain from the sun is from light that hits our planet not from direct radiation of heat.

[Enderman]

2 minutes ago, Okjoek said:

But wouldn't the heat still radiate away like it does from our own sun?

The sun radiates heat in the form of wave energy, such as light, infrared, gamma, etc...

It's not heat until it dissipates that energy by the wave colliding into an object.

 

A CPU directly produces heat.

[iamdarkyoshi]

Thats actually a really fascinating question.

[xDylanio]

15 minutes ago, Enderman said:

The sun radiates heat in the form of wave energy, such as light, infrared, gamma, etc...

It's not heat until it dissipates that energy by the wave colliding into an object.

 

A CPU directly produces heat.

so that means in space it's not hot? Or...

[Okjoek]

1 minute ago, xDylanio said:

so that means in space it's not hot? Or...

I think he means it's not anything.

 

Heat is energy I think and I think Energy requires matter and there is no matter in space capable of taking away the heat.

 

That's a lot of "I thinks" though so *shrugs*

 

 

[Enderman]

5 minutes ago, xDylanio said:

so that means in space it's not hot? Or...

No, it's at -273C

[Macimoar]

4 minutes ago, xDylanio said:

so that means in space it's not hot? Or...

Space is extremely cold. without the heat from a star it can reach around 2 degrees Kelvin (2 degrees above absolute zero). Without an atmosphere, a star's heat can significantly change that temperature. On the bright side of the moon it can reach 120C because there's no atmosphere.

So basically, Space is cold unless its not.

[Okjoek]

 

7 minutes ago, Enderman said:

No, it's at -273C

 

6 minutes ago, Macimoar said:

Space is extremely cold. without the heat from a star it can reach around 2 degrees Kelvin (2 degrees above absolute zero). Without an atmosphere, a star's heat can significantly change that temperature. On the bright side of the moon it can reach 120C because there's no atmosphere.

So basically, Space is cold unless its not.

Okay you two just threw my understanding out the window. Lol. It makes sense when you put it that way though Macimoar. Although I'm still a bit confused how it can be cold without matter. 

[Enderman]

17 minutes ago, Okjoek said:

 

 

Okay you two just threw my understanding out the window. Lol. It makes sense when you put it that way though Macimoar. Although I'm still a bit confused how it can be cold without matter. 

It's 0 kelvin.

There is no matter so there can't be any heat.

0 kelvin is essentially 0 heat.

[Froody129]

Is this not taught in Science class? Heat isn't some warm, fuzzy thing. Heat is the amount of energy atoms have and how much they move. If you don't have atoms you don't have heat and therefore don't have anything to take away the heat of the CPU. I would imagine they would use water and a radiator or just put it someplace where there is air on the spacecraft. 

[Okjoek]

3 hours ago, Froody129 said:

Is this not taught in Science class? Heat isn't some warm, fuzzy thing. Heat is the amount of energy atoms have and how much they move. If you don't have atoms you don't have heat and therefore don't have anything to take away the heat of the CPU. I would imagine they would use water and a radiator or just put it someplace where there is air on the spacecraft. 

I remembered the professor saying that heat always tries to reach cold, but what Enderman said helped me realize that the heat given off by a CPU was different than the particles that something like the sun gives off. Not easy to remember stuff that you don't use in day to day activity.

[xDylanio]

4 hours ago, Enderman said:

It's 0 kelvin.

There is no matter so there can't be any heat.

0 kelvin is essentially 0 heat.

So if you were 2 feet away from the sun, u wouldn't feel anything? 

[Enderman]

9 minutes ago, xDylanio said:

So if you were 2 feet away from the sun, u wouldn't feel anything? 

You would because there is a massive amount of radiation that would disintegrate you.

Also one of the gaseous jets would probably touch you and melt you.

[xDylanio]

29 minutes ago, Enderman said:

You would because there is a massive amount of radiation that would disintegrate you.

Also one of the gaseous jets would probably touch you and melt you.

But would you feel heat? 

[ARikozuM]

There is heat in space. The issue resides in where. If you're near the sun, you have heat. If you're on the moon, you have heat. If you're near the exterior of the space station, you have heat. If you're in the middle of nowhere, you're on your own as there is nothing to catch and reflect heat back towards you aside from your [suit]. 

[Enderman]

39 minutes ago, xDylanio said:

But would you feel heat? 

What don't you understand about radiation causing heat when the rays collide with your molecules?

Do you know how microwaves work?

[xDylanio]

1 hour ago, Enderman said:

What don't you understand about radiation causing heat when the rays collide with your molecules?

Do you know how microwaves work?

no

[Enderman]

4 minutes ago, xDylanio said:

no

The waves heat the matter without heating up the air or (in the case of space) the empty space.

So yes you would feel very hot.