Would this even work? Lol

  • Turun@feddit.de
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    1 year ago
    1. Use a metal straw to improve heat conduction.

    While metal is a better conductor of heat, when looking at the effective rate of cooling you need to take the wall thickness into account. I think a plastic straw with it’s micrometer thin walls is unbeatable.

    Edit: I have trouble finding information on wall thickness of drinking straws, it one source says they are 130-250 μm thick. That is thicker than I expected.

    • jana@leminal.space
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      1 year ago

      Counterpoint: drink a cold drink through a plastic straw and a metal straw, with your fingers on the straw. See which one feels cooler.

      • Instigate@aussie.zone
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        1 year ago

        Leave a block of wood and a brick of steel in a freezer for 24 hours and see which one feels cooler - they’ll be the same actual temperature (at least negligibly close the longer they’re left) but the metal will feel immensely cooler to the touch due to its higher capacity for heat transference.

        • jana@leminal.space
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          1 year ago

          Doesn’t that just agree with what I’m saying? The metal is going to transfer heat more easily than the plastic

      • Turun@feddit.de
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        1 year ago

        There are two compounding factors

        • heat capacity: any short term experiment will measure heat capacity first, conduction second

        • locality of contact: contact along the whole length of the straw eliminates heat conduction along the length of the straw. A single point of contact (holding the straw with fingers instead of the whole hand) behaves differently.

        I thought plastic straws were thinner than 0.2 mm, so maybe the metal is actually better.

        It’s fun arguing about these technicalities though!