Newton's Law of Cooling
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Physical Law
The rate at which a hot body loses heat is proportional to the difference in temperature between it and its surroundings.
Source of Name
This entry was named for Isaac Newton.
Historical Note
Isaac Newton applied this law to make an estimate of the temperature of a red-hot iron ball.
Although this approximation was somewhat crude, it was better than anything else up till then.
Sources
- 1972: George F. Simmons: Differential Equations ... (previous) ... (next): $1$: The Nature of Differential Equations: $\S 4$: Growth, Decay and Chemical Reactions: Problem $5$