Sorry the format sucks, I’m on mobile.
So, I have a 4 month old. On occasion I warm formula that has been in the fridge in the microwave. 20 seconds, All it needs. Yes, I shake it and test it on my arm everytime to make sure it is just right and i barely do this as i have a baby brezza. Don’t come at me. Lol.
Now today my 9 year old who is dealing with sensitive teeth asked me is I could warm her pear juice for her. Sure, no prob. The pear juice took 40 seconds just to reach room temperature. Why is this? Is it the sugars? I don’t know why this just occured to me and is bothering me but here we are.
In: Chemistry
ELI5: Some things take more energy to heat up than other things. The microwave outputs a specific amount of heat per second, therefore things that require more heat need to be in the microwave longer.
ELI’mOlder: Everything has a property called “specific heat” or “heat capacity” (different names, same concept.) For example, water takes 4.184 Joules (a measure of energy) to heat up 1 gram by 1 degree Celsius.
Ethanol (drinking alcohol) takes 2.18 Joules to heat up 1 gram by 1 degree Celsius.
Different things take different amounts of energy to heat up by the same amount of temperature. Water takes more energy (more time in the microwave) to heat up by 10 degrees than ethanol would to heat up the same 10 degrees. Furthermore dissolving THINGS inside of the water can also increase (or decrease) this amount of energy. (Sugar, salt, etc.) There are mathematical equations we can use to calculate how MUCH these things affect the heat capacity, but I won’t go into them.
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