How does a thin walled metal travel coffee mug not transfer the heat of the coffee to the outer surface of the cup?

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My wife recently got me a new travel coffee mug and it’s the best one I have ever had as far as keeping the coffee really really hot for a long time. It is very thin walled and I just don’t understand how the heat does not transfer to the outside surface of the cup.

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39 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

Mind does not have a vacuum but it does have a coating of some sort on the inside, which must be what prevents the heat transfer.

Anonymous 0 Comments

So there’s two ways the heat from the coffee can reach the outside.

Convection. The whole warm air rises kinda thing.
And conduction which is what you’re thinking of for why shouldn’t it pass through.

The mug is made up of a two thin walled steel tubes with a gap in between. If this gap is a vacuum then there isn’t any particles of air to transfer heat via convection.

The thin wall means only a small amount of heat can travel in the steel and has to travel a really long way again reducing the conduction. Finally steel is a much worse conductor of heat than aluminium.

Finally it could transfer heat through radiation but again the vacuum will prevent this.

It’s this thin walled can set up which makes for an amazing thermal barrier at keeping something hot, hot. Or cold cold without needing much energy.

Anonymous 0 Comments

So there’s two ways the heat from the coffee can reach the outside.

Convection. The whole warm air rises kinda thing.
And conduction which is what you’re thinking of for why shouldn’t it pass through.

The mug is made up of a two thin walled steel tubes with a gap in between. If this gap is a vacuum then there isn’t any particles of air to transfer heat via convection.

The thin wall means only a small amount of heat can travel in the steel and has to travel a really long way again reducing the conduction. Finally steel is a much worse conductor of heat than aluminium.

Finally it could transfer heat through radiation but again the vacuum will prevent this.

It’s this thin walled can set up which makes for an amazing thermal barrier at keeping something hot, hot. Or cold cold without needing much energy.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Mind does not have a vacuum but it does have a coating of some sort on the inside, which must be what prevents the heat transfer.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Mind does not have a vacuum but it does have a coating of some sort on the inside, which must be what prevents the heat transfer.

Anonymous 0 Comments

So there’s two ways the heat from the coffee can reach the outside.

Convection. The whole warm air rises kinda thing.
And conduction which is what you’re thinking of for why shouldn’t it pass through.

The mug is made up of a two thin walled steel tubes with a gap in between. If this gap is a vacuum then there isn’t any particles of air to transfer heat via convection.

The thin wall means only a small amount of heat can travel in the steel and has to travel a really long way again reducing the conduction. Finally steel is a much worse conductor of heat than aluminium.

Finally it could transfer heat through radiation but again the vacuum will prevent this.

It’s this thin walled can set up which makes for an amazing thermal barrier at keeping something hot, hot. Or cold cold without needing much energy.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Even without a vacuum, the heat would have to travel up and down the circumference of the hollow vessel wall, and metal is both a great conductor and dissipator of heat, so it likely also cools before the point where the heat meets your fingers.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Even without a vacuum, the heat would have to travel up and down the circumference of the hollow vessel wall, and metal is both a great conductor and dissipator of heat, so it likely also cools before the point where the heat meets your fingers.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Even without a vacuum, the heat would have to travel up and down the circumference of the hollow vessel wall, and metal is both a great conductor and dissipator of heat, so it likely also cools before the point where the heat meets your fingers.