Newton's Law of Cooling on cup of coffee

AI Thread Summary
A cup of coffee at 174 degrees cools to 134 degrees in 5 minutes in a room at 76 degrees, following Newton's Law of Cooling. The differential equation used is dT/dt = k(T-76), leading to the calculation of the cooling constant k as approximately -0.104904. The user attempted to calculate the temperature after 15 minutes but arrived at an incorrect value of 159.8448 degrees. Feedback indicates that while the approach was mostly correct, a mistake was made in the final temperature calculation. The accurate temperature at 15 minutes is approximately 96.316 degrees.
ProBasket
Messages
140
Reaction score
0
A cup of coffee at 174 degrees is poured into a mug and left in a room at 76 degrees. After 5 minutes, the coffee is 134 degrees. Assume that the differential equation describing Newton's Law of Cooling is (in this case) dT/dt = k(T-76)

here's what i done:

y(0) = 98e^{kt}

y(5) = 134-76 = 58, so...

98e^{5k} = 58
k = -0.104904
y(15) = 98*e^{15*-0.104904} + 76
and got 159.8448 which is wrong. anyone know where i went wrong?
 
Physics news on Phys.org
Go back to the general solution of the DE, you have made some mistakes in how you have handled the constants.
 
ProBasket said:
A cup of coffee at 174 degrees is poured into a mug and left in a room at 76 degrees. After 5 minutes, the coffee is 134 degrees. Assume that the differential equation describing Newton's Law of Cooling is (in this case) dT/dt = k(T-76)

here's what i done:

y(0) = 98e^{kt}

y(5) = 134-76 = 58, so...

98e^{5k} = 58
k = -0.104904
\ \ \ \color{red} y(15) = 98*e^{15*-0.104904} + 76
and got 159.8448 which is wrong. anyone know where i went wrong?
All your work is basically correct (although the presentation could improve a bit). You've made a careless mistake computing the final equation (in RED above). That equation is correct and evaluates to:
{Temperature at t=(15 min)} = (96.316 deg)


~~
 
Last edited:
TL;DR Summary: I came across this question from a Sri Lankan A-level textbook. Question - An ice cube with a length of 10 cm is immersed in water at 0 °C. An observer observes the ice cube from the water, and it seems to be 7.75 cm long. If the refractive index of water is 4/3, find the height of the ice cube immersed in the water. I could not understand how the apparent height of the ice cube in the water depends on the height of the ice cube immersed in the water. Does anyone have an...
Thread 'Variable mass system : water sprayed into a moving container'
Starting with the mass considerations #m(t)# is mass of water #M_{c}# mass of container and #M(t)# mass of total system $$M(t) = M_{C} + m(t)$$ $$\Rightarrow \frac{dM(t)}{dt} = \frac{dm(t)}{dt}$$ $$P_i = Mv + u \, dm$$ $$P_f = (M + dm)(v + dv)$$ $$\Delta P = M \, dv + (v - u) \, dm$$ $$F = \frac{dP}{dt} = M \frac{dv}{dt} + (v - u) \frac{dm}{dt}$$ $$F = u \frac{dm}{dt} = \rho A u^2$$ from conservation of momentum , the cannon recoils with the same force which it applies. $$\quad \frac{dm}{dt}...
Back
Top