how does a cpu convert virtually 100% of energy to heat when it uses energy to do calculations?

Question

I’m confused. I did some research online, and learned that cpu’s can essentially double has a hotplate, because 99-100% of electricity consumed is turned into heat. how? doesn’t the cpu use energy to make calcuations and render things? I’m real confused.

In: 1619

Answer 1

Calculations themselves don’t have any mass or energy. They are just intangible information that we humans find valuable. If you channel electricity into a wafer of silicon all that energy goes through the microscopic circuits opening and closing millions of transistors… and just stays inside. All the “work” of the CPU ends up as heat energy that we have to cool off to keep the CPU from melting. All the renders and calculations are a useful byproduct of heating the chip in a really complicated way.