Jäähtymislaki

Jäähtymislaki, often translated as Newton's Law of Cooling, describes the rate at which an object loses heat to its surroundings. Formulated by Sir Isaac Newton, this law states that the rate of heat loss of a body is directly proportional to the difference in temperatures between the body and its surroundings. In simpler terms, the hotter an object is compared to its environment, the faster it will cool down. As the object's temperature approaches the ambient temperature, the rate of cooling slows down.

The mathematical expression for Newton's Law of Cooling involves a differential equation. It states that the change in temperature over time is proportional to the temperature difference between the object and its environment. This relationship is fundamental in understanding thermal processes in various fields, including physics, engineering, and even biology. For example, it helps predict how quickly a cup of hot coffee will cool or how long a body will take to reach room temperature after death. While a simplification of real-world heat transfer, which can also involve conduction and radiation, Newton's Law of Cooling provides a valuable approximation for many situations, particularly when convective heat transfer is dominant.