How come heat sinks are cold by the touch?

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Heat sinks, often black anodized aluminum, feel cold to the touch due to their effective heat conductivity, which allows them to transfer heat away from the fingers and distribute it across their surface. While black surfaces absorb more wavelengths of light, they also radiate heat more efficiently when warmer than their surroundings, making them suitable for use in electronics. In contrast, shiny surfaces reflect light and may not dissipate heat as effectively in indoor environments. The discussion also touches on the Crookes radiometer, illustrating principles of heat absorption and radiation, but emphasizes that the primary function of heat sinks relies on convection rather than radiation. Overall, the black anodization serves both aesthetic and functional purposes in enhancing heat dissipation in electronic devices.
  • #31
Khashishi said:
Others have already pointed out that coloring it black increases the emissivity.

In the visible part of the spectrum. How important is that for a typical home electronics heat sink?

Note: whether it is "black" in IR is far from evident from its visible color.
 
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  • #32
Consider physicists precious conservation of energy.

If you then look att a problem like a gravitational sling shot you may solve it all by considering it all to be within that energy system.

It is excatly the same when it comes to details like emissivity (or Boltzmann Law) in a system.

If you do two tests at two different temperatures the emissivity constant vanishes from the equation due to being much less than infinitesimally dependent on the temperature change.

More often than not you may even see it like quite large changes do not affect the constant at all (my guess).

So all you have to do is to calculate relatively.

Hence

P_s\propto T^4...[W/m^2]

Where Ps i the surface power density

Roger
 

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