"Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe" The Sea Hawk at wow way d0t com wrote in message
...
"RST Engineering" wrote in message news
Think of a series voltage divider with two known resistors in the middle and an unknown resistor attached to each
end. What does the votage measured at the junction between the two known resistors tell you about the source
voltage?


Absolutely nothing. An equation in one unknown with two degrees of freedom is insoluble. There are an infinite
number of correct answers and an infinite number of incorrect answers. HOWEVER, if you let me measure the voltage
ACROSS one of those known resistors and THEN the voltage at the junction, I've got a fighting chance if you know what
the bottom end resistor is tied to.


Think of heat flow as current, temperature as voltage, the actual connecton between your divider and the heat source /
sink like unknown resistors (area, contact, material all make a difference as in a high current circuit) your bar with
the sensor in the middle is like the voltage drop in a transmission line - flow is a function of area, material,
potential. Heat loss from the bar is a little harder - I guess in a high tension transmission line there is some
leakage to ground across the insulators?

And you thought you didn't know thermodynamics...

fwiw, I think I would just buy a different sensor, eh?

--
Geoff
The Sea Hawk at Wow Way d0t Com
remove spaces and make the obvious substitutions to reply by mail
When immigration is outlawed, only outlaws will immigrate.


Maybe use two sensors, one way out at the cold end, and the other 'half way out'. Use some sort of logic to sort out the
cold end and adjust from there...