aluminum has weird properties?????

[bluedoggiant]

i found this quite interesting, when i use my imac for a while, the top becomes hotter than a pot on the stove (exaggerating), but you would expect that, i mean, the whole thing is on a piece of plastic, and there is aluminum surrounding it, its hot. now, when i turn it off, or put it to sleep, wait a little bit, something like an hour, put my hand on the top, its like colder than the freezer!!!! like totally ice cold, my mbp doesnt have this, it doesnt get hot when i use it for a while (power or battery), and when i leave it off, or in sleep, it does get cold, but not as cold as my imac which is in an enclosed desk where heat is supposed to be trapped and keep it warm

 

[Hawkeye411]

It's just your perception of the temperature of the computer. As we all know, we are all relatively warm compared to room temperature. If the computer is warmer than you it seems hot and if it's the same temperature as you if feels "normal" and if it's colder then you (e.g. room temperature) it feels cold.

Hope that helps.

 

[bluedoggiant]

It's just your perception of the temperature of the computer. As we all know, we are all relatively warm compared to room temperature. If the computer is warmer than you it seems hot and if it's the same temperature as you if feels "normal" and if it's colder then you (e.g. room temperature) it feels cold.

Hope that helps.

my room is very hot, i understand the hotness, by why is it freezing as if the imac is buried in ice when im not using it??????

 

[czachorski]

my room is very hot, i understand the hotness, by why is it freezing as if the imac is buried in ice when im not using it??????

Feeling of cold is both a function of the temperature of the object and the rate of heat transfer between the object and your skin. Perhaps the aluminum has a faster heat transfer rate than the plastic you are using? That would make sense.

 

[bluedoggiant]

Feeling of cold is both a function of the temperature of the object and the rate of heat transfer between the object and your skin. Perhaps the aluminum has a faster heat transfer rate than the plastic you are using? That would make sense.

what plastic are you talking about? macbook? i dont have one, i have a mbp, as in MacBook Pro

 

[xUKHCx]

what plastic are you talking about? macbook? i dont have one, i have a mbp, as in MacBook Pro

err

i found this quite interesting, when i use my imac for a while, the top becomes hotter than a pot on the stove (exaggerating), but you would expect that, i mean, the whole thing is on a piece of plastic, and there is aluminum surrounding it, its hot. now, when i turn it off, or put it to sleep, wait a little bit, something like an hour, put my hand on the top, its like colder than the freezer!!!! like totally ice cold, my mbp doesnt have this, it doesnt get hot when i use it for a while (power or battery), and when i leave it off, or in sleep, it does get cold, but not as cold as my imac which is in an enclosed desk where heat is supposed to be trapped and keep it warm

 

[Muncher]

The imac is encased in a shell of aluminum. Aluminum conducts heat. It absorbs the heat from your hand, which is warmer. This is the same reason stone will feel cool on a hot day.

 

[bluedoggiant]

err

no no no, what i mean is that, the computer components are on the aluminum, the aluminum surrounds it, everything is sitting on the piece of plastic, as in that black back board that the video card, hd, & processor sits on

 

[xUKHCx]

no no no, what i mean is that, the computer components are on the aluminum, the aluminum surrounds it, everything is sitting on the piece of plastic, as in that black back board that the video card, hd, & processor sits on

You were asking the person what piece of plastic they were talking about (then went off on on with MB and MBPs) and I was highlighting that you yourself mentioned a piece of plastic in the first post.

 

[bluedoggiant]

You were asking the person what piece of plastic they were talking about (then went off on on with MB and MBPs) and I was highlighting that you yourself mentioned a piece of plastic in the first post.

when i said it was sitting on plastic, i mean the components inside were on the black plastic

 

[BKKbill]

Heat and Cold are Relative:

The concept of cold is relative. Anything feels cold if its temperature is lower than the contacting body. If the contacting body is transferring more energy than the cold body can sink away, the cold body will attain equilibrium with the warmer body and no longer be perceived as colder. In the opposite condition, the colder body will continue to feel cold. Cold bodies of sufficient mass can sink all available heat from a warmer body. Equilibrium will cause the warmer body to become the same temperature as the colder.


It’s all at http://www.extron.com/company/article.aspx?id=thermalmgt1_ts

 

[xUKHCx]

when i said it was sitting on plastic, i mean the components inside were on the black plastic

Yeah i know, I give up trying to explain.

 

[koobcamuk]

As said, hot and cold are relative.

As also stated, metal will remove the heat from your hand better than plastic. This is why the heating element in your kettle is made from metal and not plastic and also why fanless enclosures for HDDs are often metal - same with the MBP being so thin - metal allows heat to escape.

 

[dXTC]

As said, hot and cold are relative.

As also stated, metal will remove the heat from your hand better than plastic. This is why the heating element in your kettle is made from metal and not plastic and also why fanless enclosures for HDDs are often metal - same with the MBP being so thin - metal allows heat to escape.

Following this logic, the iMac's aluminum enclosure thus acts as a giant heat sink, drawing away heat from the attached components and releasing it into surrounding air outside the enclosure. This gives the cooling fans somewhat of a break, allowing for lower fan speeds.

 

[bluedoggiant]

you are all saying things about plastic!!!! i dont touch the plastic, all i said about the word PLASTIC was that the components sit on the black thing on the back, that thing is made of plastic, the only component that touches the aluminum is the RAM, and that doesnt get hot, and its when i touch the aluminum, im not comparing anything to the plastic, the reason why i mentioned it, is because that is where all the heat causing stuff is, not on the aluminum