Slytherin Dungeons

[mamadeb]

Why do people seem to believe that the dungeons are cold?

They're not only underground, they're under the Lake. They may be damp, but I would think that, far from being cold, they'd maintain the closest thing to an even temperature all year round. Water and earth are, after all, wonderful insulators.

Comments

[notrafficlights.livejournal.com]

Anything in between the colder air and warmer dungeon will insulate both from each other.

Ehhhh not so much. 99.999999999999999% of the water on the planet is a conductor*. It is more likely to suck the heat out of the dungeons (see laws of thermodynamics) than keep it in. It's like in winter when you turn the heater on at night and pull the curtains over the glass to stop the heat eascaping through the windows, even if they're closed. Or when you put warm beer into an icebox filled with ice, water and salt. The laws of energy transference means that the heats going to go from the warmer thing into the colder thing, no matter how much colder something is on the other side of the colder thing (actually, that would probably speed up the heat loss). This is the same reason castles have hangings - insulation.

Sure, it's not going to be as cold as being outside in the winter in your jocks, or actually at the bottom of the lake (they do have a fire), but it's going to be cold.

In winter, it might help, depending on how deep the lake freezes. If it's only a thin layer, or slush, it's not going to help much. If it's a thick layer, it could help some, but it would still be cold by human standards.

Undoubtably, the Hufflepuffs are going to be cozier because they're surrounded by stone and earth, and are somewhere near the kitchens (residule heat).

*

[sraun]

I think you need to distinguish between an electrical conductor and a heat conductor. Water does conduct heat - but fairly slowly - and this is independent of contaminants. There was an experiment we did back in 8th grade - take a small test tube (about 3/8" in diameter) with about two inches of water in it - you can boil the water at one end while having chunks of ice at the other.

[notrafficlights.livejournal.com]

Water does conduct heat - but fairly slowly - and this is independent of contaminants.

All contaminants? Or just some? Ones that change the freezing temperature (mineral/salt deposits) will certainly effect how it conducts heat.

[sraun]

From what I recall of my college chemistry, any water soluble chemical raises the boiling point and lowers the freezing point of water - the amount is so reliable you can use it to figure out the molecular weight of an unknown compound. Until you get lots of contaminant - you probably need to get enough contaminant that you can feel the difference in the water before it affects the heat transfer at any gross level.