Found this bizarre post that deals with our perception of heat rising
and thought it should be reposted here for discussion;
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Subject: Hot Air Balloon
Date: Fri, 14 May 1999 21:58:15 -0500
From: "Lewis" <1arizona@ionet.net>
Organization: ioNET Inc.
Newsgroups: alt.sci.physics.new-theories
How does a hot air balloon fly. Excellent question. All the secrets
of the universe reside in that balloon rising. Honestly. First let me
explain something that we all know about heat:
If we turn on a burner on our range and get it glowing red hot we know
it is hot. We know that the closer we place our hand over the burner
the warmer it is. That's a given.
The key in knowing that hot air DOES NOT RISE AND NEVER HAS is in
understanding that the heat generated on the stove is moving outwardly
from the range (actually the center of our earth) towards your hand.
The higher your hand is over the range, the cooler the "heat" on your
hand. It is the COOLING AIR produced by the desire of the heated air to
remain still that is reaching your hand. Stop and think about this:
The word HEAT doesn't even imply movement. It is a still condition in
its wording.
It is COOLING AIR expanding outwardly from a heated condition that makes
the hot air balloon rise. The cooling air in the balloon is "rising"
to seek its own potential.
Quite the same as holding a cork under water. Let go, and it rises to
the top of the water to seek it's own electrical potential.
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Seeking its own potential...hhhmmmm....the higher the cooler, as the hot
air cools, it rises....thats confusing....a hot air balloon stays up
only as long as the air is hot..
Wouldn't that mean that the colder the air was, the higher it would rise
also, since the air gets colder the higher you go?
So a cold air balloon should rise farther than a hot air
balloon...<g>....or is it the dissipation of the heat into the
surrounding air that produces expansion from cooling.
But isn't hot air already expanded, so that when it cools, it takes up
less space? That means it contracts.
Isn't water the only substance that expands when frozen? As in
increased volume from cold.
What a bizarre viewpoint on heat and cold...Deep thoughts or weird
thoughts...
-- Jerry Wayne Decker / jdecker@keelynet.com http://keelynet.com / "From an Art to a Science" Voice : (214) 324-8741 / FAX : (214) 324-3501 KeelyNet - PO BOX 870716 - Mesquite - Republic of Texas - 75187