Short · Phones
How can a few drops of liquid cool a phone?
A phone’s chip turns its work into heat in one small spot. Many phones now spread it with a vapor chamber: a thin sealed copper pocket with a little liquid and almost no air, so the liquid boils at phone temperatures. It boils off the chip, the vapor races to cooler spots and condenses, and a wick pulls the liquid back. In our model, solid copper runs about 11 °C hotter at 6 W. The catch: push past what the wick can return, and the chip dries out.
Opens Vapor Chamber Lab. Change the same thing yourself.
Transcript
These iPhones are working hard, seen in infrared. The heat starts in one small chip. Phones like Apple's new iPhone Duo spread it with a vapor chamber: a thin sealed pocket with a little liquid and almost no air. With so little air, the liquid boils at phone temperatures. It boils off the chip, races to cooler spots, condenses, and a wick pulls it back. Now swap it for solid copper. Same six watts: the hot spot runs about eleven degrees hotter. The catch: push past what the wick can return, and the chip dries out. Turn up the heat yourself at Explainer Tools dot com.