Does the cold invade the warmer space or visa-versa? Ignoring the fact that the door itself will cause air flow, when you open a door from a warm room into a cold one, which way does the air move?
2006-12-15 05:45:31 · 4 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Weather
Cold air in a hall replaces rising warm air that escapes out the top of the door. It will slope flow across the floor with currents and eddys the closer it gets to the upper part of the door. It will continue to exchange until the difference in temperature has equalized. The answer is both air masses are exchanging sides. One closer to the top of the door (hot) and the other nearer to the bottom(cold). One can go to the other side unless room is made for it to exist at normal air pressures.
Think of it as water in the hall and air in the room. What happens when the door is opened? Imagine the water as being the denser cold air. The flow patterns will be similar with a little more mixing in the air model because density differences are not as grand.
2006-12-15 06:07:10 · answer #1 · answered by Bob 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
This is an interesting question, but the answer it completely, requires a bit of restatement.
Most of the flow of energy in air is by convection, so it is the air that flows because of its temperature, pressure and density and not the temperature.
The transfer of energy by radiation and conduction exist in air, but not as efficiently as by convection.
The gas laws relate temperature, density and pressure and describe the flow of air in three dimensions. Lighter air will rise as cirris says and colder air will fall. Because the colder air is more dense than the lighter, it will flow toward the lighter.
In a large system such as the atmosphere, the effect of the rotation of the Earth must be considered. With enough heat and water, one gets a hurricane.
2006-12-15 07:13:42 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hi. The cold air tries to move toward the warm air at the bottom of the open doorway due to it's higher density, and the warm does the opposite and tries to move through the top of the doorway to replace the cold air.
2006-12-15 05:50:04 · answer #3 · answered by Cirric 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
hot air has more energy. therefore the particles (atoms or molecules) of the gas will be moving quicker. which do you think will move into the other room first, faster or slower?
2006-12-15 05:51:17 · answer #4 · answered by jimvalentinojr 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋