Thread: VW Reality
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Old February 1st 08, 11:04 AM posted to rec.aviation.homebuilt
Steve Foley
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Posts: 563
Default VW Reality

wrote in message
...
'Economy of Scale' in that smaller
engines are LESS thermally efficient than larger engines


Back before I got thrown out of engineering school, I was taught that if you
double all of the dimensions of something, the volume increases by a factor
of eight, but the surface area only increases by a factor of four.

The question posed was "Is there an upper limit to the size of a bird?" The
answer given, as I remember it was yes. Because the lift of the bird's wings
is proportional to area, but the weight of the bird is proportional to
volume, at some 'size', the wings become overloaded.

The same reasoning was applied to body cooling. The birds cooling was
proportional to surface area, but the heat produced was proportional to
volume.

What did I miss in EE102 after I transferred?