Apocolypze01

Hello, i will explain briefly why hot air rises.

There are two explanations that i will give. Both are equally correct.

The first explanation is based on the fact that objects of low density rise above heavier objects. We all see this when oil floats on top of water. That's because water - at 25 degrees Celsius - is more dense than oil. The same principal applies with air. According to the Kinetic Molecular Theory of Gases, KMT, as the temperature of a gas rises, the average kinetic(movement/motion) energy of the system rises. As the kinetic energy rises, the particles possessing this energy move further apart from eachother. In turn, the density - mass/volume - of the gas decreases and this causes the hot air to rise.

The second explanation is that, according to statistical mechanics, where air has greater kinetic energy, it has a greater probability to occupy a higher gravitational potential (greater height), than air with lower kinetic energy. Basically, in order for an atom/molecule to occupy a greater potential (height), it must possess a great amount of kinetic energy.

Thanks for reading. Any suggestions/improvements are welcome. I'm only a year 11 physics student so don't be too harsh

Have a nice day, all at OCN.

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Cyberbot

Uhm, thanks for the information.. But how can this be useful for OCN members? Simply knowing that hot air rises is enough.
Nevertheless I like everything that's educational

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We Are Gr33n Machine

If you discover a mistake in my spelling and/or grammar, please inform me; I want to improve my english in any way possible.

Quantum Reality

I'm surprised you brought in stat mech and you're only in grade 11. I hate statistical mechanics and try to avoid thinking about it whenever possible, but it unavoidably creeps in when you do things like quantum mechanics. Urk.

Anyway, good basic overview.

We all 'know' hot air rises, this is true, but the physical principles behind the process are what can give rise to a better understanding of how to design air cooling systems. For example we now design systems to generally try to bring air in from the front and bottom and expel it from the top and rear, mirroring the expected natural air flow if the computer case had no fans in it.

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Killhouse

I heard that in the southern hemisphere they put all their computers upside down, gravity is backwards so hot air sinks!

No but really, I enjoyed the statistical mechanics

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