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Answers to Readers' Questions on Physical Science:

Heat Transfer with Hot Coffee

The following 2 comments and questions have been sent in. They are listed according to date.

List of first 10 items

• How about E=mc2 with hot coffee?
• Would paper insulate a hot coffee cup?

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How about E=mc2 with hot coffee?

Question

March 19, 2009

how bout E=mc2

Colie - Paris

17472

Answer

E=mc2 concerns to the amount of energy that matter can contain and is usually used in nuclear reactions. The equation has nothing to do with heat transfer, which is where hot material can heat up cool material.

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Would paper insulate a hot coffee cup?

Question

June 1, 2008

hello, can you help me? when you put a cup of hot coffee on paper does the paper conduct the heat through to the wooden table? thanks for you help

DIANNA - New Zealand

16025

Answer

Since a piece of paper is so thin, it does not do a good job of insulating heat from the table. Thus, it does conduct much heat to the wooded table. Note that the cup must be hot on its bottom. A paper coffee cup has a ridge to prevent contact of the surface.

Try it with a regular cup and feel how warm the table gets.

A thicker quantity of paper--such as a newspaper--would do a better job of insulating the coffee cup from the table.

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