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Science type question about beer...


yall

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_capacity#Heat_capacity

 

Air doesn't transmit heat as much as water. That's why insulation in say, your house, or a jacket, is a media that traps air.

 

 

It's funny that it works the other way around too. Put a can of beer in the freezer and then a bucket of ice tell me the difference isn't ten times as fast.

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Why does a can of beer warm so much more rapidly in 70 degree water than it would in 70 degree air?

 

Heat transfers through water faster than air. My guess is density, but I don't remember much from my Chem/Phys classes....

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FTW = For The Win

 

Sheesh, that's the last time I pay you a compliment :rolleyes:

 

Oh. So you weren't telling me to go to fly away somewhere, then.

 

What was that old Bob & Ray line? Something like..."We welcome you to the annual meeting of the Americans Against All Acronyms, a.k.a. the AAAA."

 

<_<

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Air is actually an amazing insulator. A lot of insulation types are just different ways of trapping a stagnant layer of air around whatever is being insulated. If you can keep air from moving (thus eliminating convection) it will be a very good insulator because it has a very low thermal conductivity.

 

It's also why 72 degree water feels a heck of a lot colder than 72 degree air. Your body heat is transfered away much faster in water.

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Heat transfers through water faster than air. My guess is density, but I don't remember much from my Chem/Phys classes....

 

yep, you and cincy had it. it has to do with surface area too and how many molecules of air vs water are against the surface of the can.

 

FTW = For The Win

 

Sheesh, that's the last time I pay you a compliment :rolleyes:

 

 

FTW will ALWAYS mean !@#$ The World from the old punk rock days. i dont care what the computer nerds say.

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......It's also why 72 degree water feels a heck of a lot colder than 72 degree air. Your body heat is transfered away much faster in water.

Interestingly though.........boiling water will not scald as severely as steam of the same temperature.

Anybody know why? :thumbsup:

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Heat transfers through water faster than air. My guess is density, but I don't remember much from my Chem/Phys classes....

 

Density, basically. If you think about it at the atomic level, a gallon of water has more molecules than a gallon of air. Heat transfer is basically momentum transfer between atoms - this 70 degree atom hits this 30 degree atom, they both recoil, and the colder atom gains and warmer atom loses momentum. More atoms means more transfer. Again, as someone mentioned, same reason beer cools faster in a bucket of ice water than in the freezer.

 

Obviously, that's kind of a hand-waving explanation (thermodynamically, it's not "density of atoms" but "density of states", which is slightly different and leads to really "fun" statistical mechanics equations). But reasonably accurate, if you just want to cool your beer and not turn it in to a physics lecture.

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Density, basically. If you think about it at the atomic level, a gallon of water has more molecules than a gallon of air. Heat transfer is basically momentum transfer between atoms - this 70 degree atom hits this 30 degree atom, they both recoil, and the colder atom gains and warmer atom loses momentum. More atoms means more transfer. Again, as someone mentioned, same reason beer cools faster in a bucket of ice water than in the freezer.

 

Obviously, that's kind of a hand-waving explanation (thermodynamically, it's not "density of atoms" but "density of states", which is slightly different and leads to really "fun" statistical mechanics equations). But reasonably accurate, if you just want to cool your beer and not turn it in to a physics lecture.

 

Yeah, but why is it that when I microwave my beer it doesn't stay as warm as long as when I put it on the stove?

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