i'd like to turn heat into energy for the computer. i'd like to attach a makey makey to a heat absorbent material, then using scratch to turn it into energy, i realise this is unlikely but any solution close to it will be welcomed

Have you considered trying to use heat to generate movement which would then trigger the makeymakey? Like a thermometer moving up or down?
There are plenty of ‘heat sensors’ you might be able to plug into the arudino pins of the makeymakey as well.

cool, still need to know how to link it to computer energy

Just 2 different metals should produce a thermocouple however the electrical energy you'd get out even if you put KW of heat in would never power a computer! I think the best you could do wold be to measure the temperature rather than use temperature to create electrical power.

on laptops, could you plug the charger into something??

catlover1123 wrote:

on laptops, could you plug the charger into something??

A power socket. If you have any plutonium going spare then you could always fill it with thermocouples which is called a thermopile. Satellites use that occasionally.

I'm assuming your heat source is relatively small, ie running a steam engine is out of the question…

My recommendation is to look at Peltier chips. Same thing as in cheap portable coolers (the small electric kind you take to a tailgate party, not big refrigerators that use a compressor.) Apply heat on one side and keep the other side cool, and you'll get a small voltage between the two wires that are attached to the chip. (I say ‘chip’, it's more like a 2in by 2in tile of ceramic material)

If you don't have an old broken cooler you can salvage the parts from, you can buy Peltier chips on EBay for a few dollars.

However if all you want to do is *measure* temperature rather than use heat to *generate power* then there are much easier ways.

G