The discussion focuses on determining the cooling time of a volume of water from an initial temperature to a final temperature in a specified ambient temperature. It explores various factors that influence this cooling process, including volume, container shape, and environmental conditions.
Participants generally agree on the importance of various factors in the cooling process, but there is no consensus on a definitive method for calculating cooling time, as multiple approaches and considerations are discussed.
Limitations include the dependence on specific assumptions about the container and environmental conditions, as well as the unresolved mathematical steps involved in applying Newton's law of cooling.
This discussion may be useful for individuals interested in thermodynamics, experimental physics, or engineering applications related to heat transfer and cooling processes.
Razzor7 said:I don't know the volume, is this information important?
The shape of the container - cooling happens only on the surface of the water.Razzor7 said:Are there any other important details we need?
It is extrordinarily difficult (virtually impossible) to predict in advanced the heat transfer performance of a vessel, from scratch. Almost all real problems like this are solved via that second method: using experimental data as a baseline at least to give you the heat transfer coefficient. That curve, though, is Newton's law of cooling, so once you have a couple of data points, you aren't estimating anymore, you have all the information to plug into the equation and calculate the answer.mgb_phys said:The shape of the container - cooling happens only on the surface of the water.
If it is open or closed
The insulation value of the container
The temperature of the room
The humidity if the water is warm enough that evaporation is going to matter.
The easy way is to measure the temperature drop in the 1st minute, 2nd minute etc for a few data points and plot a curve and then estimate where it crosses the final temperature you want.