Recent content by axiom1

So it seems I've gotten a very mixed response to the question. Some people are saying that evaporation allows the paper towel to cool faster. Some people say the increased surface area increases the thermal contact with the air, making the towel better. Can anyone give me a definitive...

Could someone address my last question? In general can you improve performance by inserting an intermediate layer with better conductivity assuming surface area is unchanged?

What about a hypothetical thin layer of water surrounding the bottle (that stays put). The surface area isn't changed considerably. Would it be better than having no such layer? It seems that the effect of the water "cancels out" because we are still limited by the conductivity of air (which...

Just to clarify some of the theory. If the increase in surface area was negligible, would the towel still cool faster? My guess is no, because we are still limited by how quickly the air cools the towel (which in turn cools the bottle). And another question, what about a dry towel? Would it...

How much surface area are we talking here? The paper towel adds some small amount of radius to this cylinder-like structure, so 2*pi*r*L changes insignificantly (but this is assuming the surface is smooth). Is the surface of the paper towel full of little "folds" (crevasses, ridges, etc) while...

Ok. So even if the air in the freezer doesn't conduct heat as well as water then that doesn't make the towel better, because the towel still has to be cooled by the surrounding air. In other words, the air is the still the weakest link and is the limiting factor here. The only thing that...

So you're saying the cooling you get through evaporation is enough to account for the fact that the water is initially warmer than the surrounding air (which decreases initial rate of cooling) and the release of latent heat when some of the water on the towel freezes (which tends to happen from...

As a mathematician I've always preferred theory to experiment. But regardless, the experiment is underway, but I'd rather just hear a good theoretical argument.

Ummm, this isn't a homework problem if that's what you're implying. The physics of cooling beer just happen to be of great interest to me. I guess I went overboard in trying to make the question sound professional.

It is commonly said (based on a quick Google search) that wrapping your beer in a wet paper towel and placing it in the freezer will allow it to cool faster than placing it in the freezer without said paper towel. Newton's Law of Cooling suggests otherwise. The fact that water releases energy...