On Sat, Jul 19, 2003 at 10:55:49AM -0400, Robert J. Chassell wrote: > Presuming the end caps are mostly low-conductive stone or regolith, > the major temperature determiner for the end caps should be, I think, > the air, although indirect light will have an effect.
I think that would be difficult. Heat conduction between air and a surface is usually very small compared to heat conduction by a solid, even a "low conductivity" solid. For example, just a few feet (say, 2m) below ground on earth, the temperature can be quite different than the air temperature. Ground temperature is often quoted as being about 10-15C year round, even during hot summers or cold winters. Presumably this is because the ground conducts heat much better than the air and spreads heat out evenly throughout the ground. Any heat absorbed by the ground from the air is conducted away and spread around resulting in a uniform temperature mostly independent of the air temperature. Also, the mass of earth is hugely greater than the mass of air, so even if the air transferred all of its heat to the ground, the ground temperature would not change a great deal. I am having a hard time describing what is really a 3 dimensional heat flow problem that could be simulated by assigning boundary conditions, heat sources, and solving Laplace's differential equation over the volume in question. I don't think the possibility of different temperature air around the end caps could be neglected in determining the weather system of a tuna can habitat. Unless, perhaps, there is some form of "super-insulation" on the end caps. But even then, I think a good simulation would be necessary to show that ground conduction could be neglected in determining the weather patterns. -- "Erik Reuter" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> http://www.erikreuter.net/ _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
