I keep hearing on the news that the leading theory on the shuttle accident was that missing tiles let in “deadly scorching atmospheric gases.” Now, I know that it was actually quite cold where the shuttle was when it broke up, and they’re really talking about the heat generated on re-entry on passing through the atmosphere.
My question is: is it the friction of the air that causes the heat, or the compression of the air? I know that friction causes heat to be generated from the force resisting the motion of an object (or something like that.) I also know that when you put some volume of air into a smaller space–putting it under pressure–it gives off heat. The leading edge of something like the space shuttle whipping through the air will certainly compress the air at the leading edge of the craft, but it is also affected by friction which slows it down. Are these things one-in-the-same or are there two distinct effects in … umm … effect?
I’ll let an expert give you a more detailed answer, but I consider them to be separate effects. The heat from compression is much greater than that from friction. I can not quantify the difference however.
I’ll let an expert give you a more detailed answer, but I consider them to be separate effects. The heat from compression is much greater than that from friction. I can not quantify the difference however.
Umm… I don’t know why I am thinking this, but here goes: The friction of the air passing by the shuttle heats it, but it takes a lot of air moving very quickly to heat the shuttle. This results in the air being heated a little, but the shuttle being heated a lot. When the air is compressed it is heated, but it does not really pass that heat on to the shuttle as it is passing quite quickly. This results in very heated air and a little heated shuttle. Combine them, and you have both the shuttle and the air being heated, but for different reasons.
Again, this is just off the top of my head, and I have not even taken physics. This is just based on the knowledge that it takes time for an object to transfer heat, and the shuttle is not in such a position for very long.