up vote 3 down vote favorite
share [g+] share [fb]

I was just curious how much of a difference having the fins makes in a heatsink vs just a large block of metal.

link|improve this question
53% accept rate
1  
While the short and simple versions provided below are correct, this is a big enough subject in general for mechanical engineers to spend two semesters on... – dmckee Jul 15 '10 at 19:16
feedback

2 Answers

up vote 11 down vote accepted

The heat radiates from the surface of a heat sink, so the greater the surface area, the better the heatsink. Roughly speaking, if you cut a load of slots in your big block of aluminium, you could end up with, say, 5 times the surface area, and the heatsink can then get rid of 5 times the heat.

Have a read of the Wikipedia article - the big block is, in general, rather poor compared to the fins.

link|improve this answer
+1 for the link. – steve.lippert Jul 15 '10 at 19:04
feedback
up vote 6 down vote

Fins give you more surface area for cooling, a large block has less surface area and would still have a hotter center than something that can get air right to the center of "the block".

link|improve this answer
feedback

Your Answer

 
or
required, but never shown
discard

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.