This is what I tried to get at in my 2-liner above. **Snailboy **is assuming that all the heat in the wire must be disipated exactly as it’s being generated. That’s the error. And, heat disipation depends on many factors, not just the surface area of the wire. So all of the heat may be disipated, or the temp may build up in the wire and it’ll literally burn up. Hey, you could use that principle for a fuse technology!
Thank God I only had to take one class in that subject. Give me anything, even Quantum Electrodymanics, over Thermo anyday!
I think you guys have finally got me to understand this stuff. It’s easy to memorize rules, but it can be a challenge figuring out why it behaves like that. I believe knowing what happens without knowing how or why is poor science. I think that’s pretty much everything I’ve wondered about the subject. I better stop asking questions so I’ll have motivation to go back to college. Thanks a lot.
