(Gould 0738) wrote in message ...
Thats a lame argument. Think about it.

KH

You're right. There's no difference between a cow and a horse, either. Both are
mammals, walk on four legs, eat grass, and are commonly domesticated. Just as
devices designed to transfer heat to the atmosphere and devices designed to
transfer heat from one liquid to another are not different in concept and one
term is properly interchangeable with the other, so it is also a waste of time
to nitpick whether an animal is a cow or a horse. (At least until you want to
go for a ride or get some milk to make butter and cheese).

I gotta come to KH's defense. As an engineer let me explain that
there is no difference at all between a "radiator" and heat exchanger.
They are both heat exchangers. The physical principles that govern
their operation are identical. One is a water to air heat exchanger
and one is a water to water heat exchanger. They just use different
fluids. This distinction only alters a few of the variables in a
machine designers calculations. The principal means of heat transfer
in both is conduction and convection. Radiation plays such an
insignificant part that it would be ignored by all but the most anal
engineers. It's not the difference between a horse and cow, it's the
difference between an arabian and a quarter horse. Same basic animal,
different applications. If a radiator actually radiated energy away
as the sun radiates energy to earth, why must it be put in front of
the car with air forced through it? www.howstuffworks.com will back
me up on this. Look up "car cooling system" and click on the radiator
link. In the first sentence it calls it a heat exchanger. You can
prove it to yourself on your car by blocking the grille with cardboard
and disabling your radiator fan, get on the highway and watch the
temperature gauge.