- #1
puhlonker
- 4
- 0
in the movie i was watching that is set in space, some of the characters get frozen while exposed to the vacuum of space without being properly insulated. Now i am wondering is my understanding of heat energy incorrect.
I thought heat would be taken from the body by every atom that interacts with it. and the more atoms/molecules that take the energy the quicker the heat is lost. (ie air turbulence increases heat loss). in space there are very few particles to interact with the body inquestion. i remember hearing a figure for how little atoms there are in a metre cubed of space(in space). . . can't remember what it was, but i it was an incredibly small number.
what is it that would allow for such a high rate of heat loss in space? am i missing something? or have i just learned a model for heat transfer that doesn't apply here.
and there was me thinking that a vacuum was the best insulator?
as i think about this
if steam would freeze and turn to ice in such conditions, using PV=nRT would imply as the pressure drops something on the other side must drop too, in this case T. is that reasoning correct. if so, where does the energy go? if its not taken away by other atoms? it can't travel as electromagnetic energy?
I thought heat would be taken from the body by every atom that interacts with it. and the more atoms/molecules that take the energy the quicker the heat is lost. (ie air turbulence increases heat loss). in space there are very few particles to interact with the body inquestion. i remember hearing a figure for how little atoms there are in a metre cubed of space(in space). . . can't remember what it was, but i it was an incredibly small number.
what is it that would allow for such a high rate of heat loss in space? am i missing something? or have i just learned a model for heat transfer that doesn't apply here.
and there was me thinking that a vacuum was the best insulator?
as i think about this
if steam would freeze and turn to ice in such conditions, using PV=nRT would imply as the pressure drops something on the other side must drop too, in this case T. is that reasoning correct. if so, where does the energy go? if its not taken away by other atoms? it can't travel as electromagnetic energy?