5 ms·
That’s thermodynamically impossible.
by layoutIfNeeded 5y ago
That’s thermodynamically impossible.
- flavius29663 5y agoWhy? You could theoretically take out energy from the room in the form of electricity
- layoutIfNeeded 5y agoYou can’t. The second law of thermodynamics prohibits it. “It is impossible to devise a cyclically operating device, the sole effect of which is to absorb energy in the form of heat from a single thermal reservoir and to deliver an equivalent amount of work.”
- jodrellblank 5y agoHow does having a hot side of a piece of material and a cold side of a piece of material come under "cyclically operating"?
- rpmisms 5y agoPerhaps not an equivalent amount of work, but if we could capture some of the waste....
- jkgktnrnfnf 5y agoNot true. For example you could convert the heat into photons (infrared radiation) and beam that out of the room without needing a pipe. You would probably need an infrared transparent patch on the window to aim at. https://spie.org/news/5129-a-metamaterial-to-convert-heat-to-light https://spie.org/news/5129-a-metamaterial-to-convert-heat-to...