3

To conduct heat, a medium is required (e.g. Atmosphere)

But at higher altitudes atmosphere is too thin, yet Wikipedia states temperatures in the thermosphere can rise to 2,000$^{\circ}$C

Electromagnetism can travel through vacuum, but is thermodynamics that simple? ISS uses radiators for thermal control, how do those "radiate" heat?

Is it just "radiation"?

IT Bear
  • 1,199
  • 1
  • 9
  • 18
  • 2
    "How is the Sun's heat transmitted to Earth?" is the first question you should be asking yourself. – Andrew Thompson Mar 21 '17 at 06:52
  • 1
    I think there are several questions and some good answers about this already - it might be good to do a search within SXSE. – uhoh Mar 21 '17 at 09:14
  • @uhoh It would be a better idea to define entropy for him. – Raze Mar 22 '17 at 06:53
  • 1
    @Raze go for it. I have so much entropy in my head that I can't wrap my mind around it. – uhoh Mar 22 '17 at 10:26
  • 2
    @uhoh I am afraid there is just as much entropy in my head than as it is in your head. – Raze Mar 22 '17 at 16:36
  • I thought I had a decent understanding of entropy before this thread, but I've suddenly realized there's much more entropy in my head than one can imagine. – IT Bear Mar 23 '17 at 03:46
  • @ITBear: The temperature of a gas refers to the average speed of the gas molecules. In other words, a high temperature is possible even if there is only one molecule. However, the thinner the gas, the lower the heat transferred via conduction/convection. Read the entire second paragraph of the Wikipedia link you provided in your question. – James Mar 24 '17 at 17:26

0 Answers0