i am doing an experiment to measure the temperature of the surface of the filament, i using thermocopule, my teacher told me to use thermopaste on bulb to measure the temperature. Can some 1 tell me what is thermopaste and what does thermopaste do.

thanks

As far as I can remember thermopaste or senso, enables the transfer of heat at a more effective rate without so much waste, i suspect it would make the "reading" temperature of the element more "actual", by means of transfering the data to your meter without so much waste so the test becomes more efficient.

Is it the same kind of thing as thermal paste used for effective heat exchange between CPUs and the heatsink?

Yer thats it.

It also gives the handy advantage of dispersing heat to avoid comedy glass smashing.

it`s a basic Zinc Oxide based cream, at a push (although not very Scientific) you can use Sudacream the stuff they use for nappy rash, I`ve used it many times as a cheap alternative, and it`s never failed yet

One brand of the stuff used in PC's is Artic Silver and works in two ways. It is a good conductor of heat and it smooths over any pits or roughness on the heat transfer surfaces to eliminate any air pockets that might provide insulation.

 

http://www.kustompcs.co.uk/acatalog/Kustom_PCs_Shop_Thermal_Interface_69.html

it`s a basic Zinc Oxide based cream, at a push (although not very Scientific) you can use Sudacream the stuff they use for nappy rash, I`ve used it many times as a cheap alternative, and it`s never failed yet

 

You can pop down your local computer shop and pick up a large syringe of thermal paste for a couple quid, it's not all that expensive. Arctic Silver is the stuff the most serious overclockers use, it's extremely efficient for what it is, although it's a bit more expensive than the normal stuff.