Time for Hot Water to Cool -- Calculation....

[aiop]

The title says it all. I would like to know how to calculate the time for boiling water to cool off. Assuming the temperature of the room is not changing and there is a constant degree of air flow over the water. Really I would just like to know how to go about calculating this.

Thanks in advanced,
Aiop

 

[davenn]

The title says it all. I would like to know how to calculate the time for boiling water to cool off. Assuming the temperature of the room is not changing and there is a constant degree of air flow over the water. Really I would just like to know how to go about calculating this.

Thanks in advanced,
Aiop

what have you done so far to work this out ?

 

[EspressoDan]

Really, the answer has more to do with the container that the water is in and the starting conditions (volume and temperature). It's an engineering question.

The surface areas presented by the sides of the container, the surface area at the top and the thermal conductivity of the materials will have a large effect and not one that can be easily calculated given the variety of materials and designs.

For a specific container, if temperature and airflow is constant and you want to be able to predict the rate of cooling in the future you might be better off with plotting some observations on a chart and then using that as lookup, maybe against a given volume or starting temperature.

 

[sophiecentaur]

@aiop: You need to do some thinking here, if you want a meaningful PF type conversation.
What mechanisms will be causing the heat loss? Which would be the major loss for hot water in a 'room temperature' room?

 

[russ_watters]

Start by having a look at Newton's Law of Cooling...