Physics/newton's law of cooling
Expert: Palash Apte - 3/27/2007
Questiontaking newton's law of cooling into consideration, (basically objects cool/heat faster when the temperature difference between the object and it surroundings is greater) your probably familiar with it, I assume that frozen/cooled chocolate would melt faster. Am I correct in this assumption?
AnswerJenna,
You are correct in your definition of newtons law which states that the rate of change of temp. is proportional to the temp. diff.
However, a frozen chocolate will NOT melt faster than a chocolate at a higher temp. because even though the frozen chocolates temp will initially be faster than that for the chocolate at higher temp., the chocolate at higher temp. has a head start just because its initially at a higher temp.
You can create a simple excel spreadsheet and see this effect clearly.
Palash