Timeline for How fast does water cool off after boiling?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
5 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Dec 27, 2019 at 16:03 | comment | added | ian | @Athanasius Fair enough. It's a tad rhetorical but I'm not above hyperbole :) | |
| Dec 27, 2019 at 15:08 | comment | added | Athanasius | I agree, which is why I upvoted your answer. My comment was reacting to the first sentence of your answer, however, which implied that no one was interested in answering that question. I don't think it's that people were uninterested -- I think it's just impossible to answer with any specificity. IMO, the right answer if OP wants to find an "ideal moment to pour the coffee" is to get a thermometer and measure what happens for the particular equipment. | |
| Dec 27, 2019 at 7:46 | comment | added | ian | @Athanasius Yes, specifics make a difference and the only way to know is to measure directly. That doesn't mean there isn't an average in either the specific mathematical sense or the more colloquial "what's it likely to be, roughly". It's not unanswerable any more than "how long does it take to get from work to home" is unanswerable. So, a data point is a good start. | |
| Dec 26, 2019 at 14:17 | comment | added | Athanasius | Thanks for the data links. However, the reason why this question is unanswerable as written is because so much depends on the details. Your first link mentions that cooling rate depends on surface area (which is true), so the size of the pan/surface area is one variable. The volume of the water is another variable. The material of the pan/cup is another. Whether the cup/pan is preheated before adding the water is another. The temperature and humidity of the room are further variables. The only way to actually know the temperature in a particular setup is to measure the temperature. | |
| Dec 26, 2019 at 1:31 | history | answered | ian | CC BY-SA 4.0 |