i’m just wondering how fluid & heat transfer works, if you mix water that is 20 or 30 degrees apart in temperature does the hot or cold have an advantage or does it meet in the middle and equalize?
In: 6
It ends up very very close to *but not quite* in the middle.
Why you ask?
Two effects:
1. A liquid’s density decreases (*usually) with higher temperatures, so there’s slightly less mass of water in the hotter tank. If you asked the question in terms of mass, of course this wouldn’t be an effect.
2. Heat capacity, which is the amount of thermal energy required to change the temperature a unit amount changes with temperature too.
We’re only talking a tiny fraction of a percent off with liquid water, but if you were mixing steam these effects can be rather significant.
*Water is strange and is densest at 4C, most liquids are densest at freezing temperature. This means in the 0C to 4C range water gets denser as you heat it.
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