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jawshoeaw t1_j5qd1il wrote

Reply to comment by bikerlegs in Why does hot air cool? by AspGuy25

Windchill is a human experience and does not apply to physical objects like a computer. No matter how fast the wind is blowing over your dry computer, it cannot reduce the temperature below the temperature of the air making up the "wind". What it can do is reach an equilibrium temperature faster. At least in my experience (and wikipedia) this phenomenon is called "air cooling your computer" and not wind chill.

edit for clarity: wind definitely cools things off faster than no wind :)

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bikerlegs t1_j5qdk4w wrote

This isn't true. I also just looked on Wikipedia and it explains the same thing I explained. Wind chill is the additional cooling effect that wind brings. Not necessarily from evaporation, it still included conduction. So you're dry computer is still experiencing wind chill by definition.

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jawshoeaw t1_j5qdu0v wrote

From the very beginning of the article on Wikipedia:

"Wind chill or windchill (popularly wind chill factor) is the lowering of body temperature due to the passing-flow of lower-temperature air.

It's a non-scientific term with no agreed exact formula and has nothing to do with inanimate objects.

Edit: Of course wind cools things - didn't mean to be nit-picking, I just don't like "windchill" because it's poorly defined. I mean there could be moisture on inanimate objects, that could be removed by dry air and cool further.. but there are good terms for those phenomenon such as evaporative cooling, convective, etc.

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a_cute_epic_axis t1_j5qoaif wrote

> Windchill is a human experience and does not apply to physical objects like a computer.

It does if the computer is on and is exposed to wind. It has nothing to do with being human or alive, and everything to do with having an internal source of heat. Even in things that have no source of heat, wind chill will accelerate cooling until the object reaches the dry bulb temp (assuming there's no evaporation), as you mention... which rather obviously means it is not limited to "human experience".

You can argue that the term windchill refers to something typically used to describe human/animal outdoor comfort, but the concept is in no way limited to that.

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