this post was submitted on 11 May 2024
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Physics

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Why You Can Hear the Temperature of Water (www.nytimes.com)
submitted 6 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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[–] [email protected] 27 points 6 months ago

Here's a Tom Scott video instead of a paywalled article

[–] [email protected] 8 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Ahhhh fascinating.

For years, I've been adamant that when I stir a cup of hot tea or coffee, the pitch of the scraping spoon almost imperceptibly shifts, and assumed it was because of the gradual slight cooling of the water. Nobody else could seem to hear what I heard.

Wasn't sure if it was my music producer ears or imagination.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 months ago

Pouring a cup of hot water for tea def sounds different

[–] [email protected] 6 points 6 months ago (2 children)

Always wondered about this. Article is pay-walled though.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 6 months ago

TL;DR the difference in density at different temperatures changes the sound

[–] [email protected] 4 points 6 months ago

Another commenter posted a Tom Scott/Steve Mould video with the same subject. In case you haven't seen it already.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago

The viscosity of hot water is much lower.