Which would melt more ice – a pot of hot water or a tub of warm water?

Posted by admin on May 15th, 2010 and filed under hot water pot | 2 Comments »

Why do you think so?
Yes, that’s why I asked it in the first place. This came out of my textbook, so it was the authors’ fault. Well, could you make like an assumption?

A tub of warm water.

Because of the greater volume of water, it has a greater capacity for heat storage. So even if the pot of hot water is warmer, it only has so much warmth to diffuse into the ice.

2 Responses

  1. dingodevil Says:

    You are asking a vague question in a scientific forum. How much water is in the pot and the tub respectively? What are the temperatures of the water in the pot and the tub respectively? Your question is unanswerable without these details.

    EDIT: both could theoretically melt an infinite quantity of ice, given time, so long as the surrounding air temperature is greater than 0 degC.
    References :

  2. Lisa K Says:

    A tub of warm water.

    Because of the greater volume of water, it has a greater capacity for heat storage. So even if the pot of hot water is warmer, it only has so much warmth to diffuse into the ice.
    References :
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molecular_diffusion

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