I’ve seen hot food get cooler when left out, and I’ve seen cold food get warmer when left out. Would it be possible for warm food to get cooled, and then warmed back up just from being left out?
In: Physics
The thing to bear in mind is that heat is constantly trying to spread out. This means that heat flows spontaneously from relatively warm areas to relatively cool areas, and eventually the temperatures of things that are exposed to each other become equal. Warm food cools down because it’s warmer than its surroundings, and cold food warms up because its surroundings are warmer than the food. Once food reaches a temperature equal to its surroundings, heat stops flowing, and the food’s temperature remains constant. For a food to cool and then warm again, the temperature in the room would have to change and rise above the food’s temperature.
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