I’m really starting to enjoy writing this blog you know…it’s nice knowing that I have some weekly readers from all over the world being inoculated with physics!
Putting the mawkish stuff aside, I actually for once had a semi-relaxing weekend! Even though Fall Break was a measly one day, I had a wonderful time at Ala Moana with a friend. And of course, since it was a holiday, any mediocre food just wouldn’t do! Which is why we went to Cold Stone Creamery for ice cream creations!!! (after savoring hot wings from KFC)
Now my friend, who is uber-smart, knows that I’m taking Physics right now. Having been through that phase of life herself, she asked me, “So, have you guys studied Newton’s Law of Cooling yet?”
To which I dumbly shook my head and with much astonishment answered with a question of my own: “There’s a Law of Cooling?!”
She laughed at my dearth of physicsy wisdom and proceeded to explain the following: Newton’s Law of Cooling states that the rate of change of heat loss of an object is proportional to the difference between the ambient temperature and the object’s own temperature.
Eq: Q=h x A(To-Ta) 
Q- amount of heat transfer
h- heat transfer coefficient
A- surface area of object
To- Temperature of object
Ta- Temerature of surroundings
Then she started talking about derivatives so I gave up trying to understand any more…but obviously Newton’s Law of Cooling was present and heat was being transferred because my Chocolate DevotionTM was slowly melting.
Supposedly, with this law and some more equations, you can even calculate the time of death of an animal if given the initial and final temperatures of a corpse and the temperature of the room. Scary, especially with Halloween on the way…
With the malignant glares we got from a I’m-on-a-diet-so-don’t-you-dare-eat-that-ambrosial-food-full-of-calories-in-front-of-my-face-and-look-so-happy person spooning yogurt nearby, Newton’s Law of Cooling could have come in handy.
Luckily it didn’t. ; K
i hope you dont mind my replying here -ty for the kudos.your posts on physics are always informative and suprisingly entertaining your other pages, particularly the poetry page are superb as well. well done and have a great halloween
juliaaaa…cool picture,never knew about that Law of Cooling. sounds vaguely familiar though, maybe from chem days? happy halloween!