How many ice cubes does it take to cool a cup of tea from 90°C to 60°C?
About 3 ice cubesMelting ice soaks up a lot of heat: each cube takes about 12 kJ.
It takes about 3 ice cubes.
How we worked it out
Melting ice soaks up a lot of heat: each cube takes about 12 kJ. Regular 25 g ice cubes straight from the freezer, all of them melting. Real life adds a little friction and waste, so treat the number as a solid ballpark rather than a lab result. The constants behind every experiment are on the science page.
Watch it happen
This was one of the five experiments in It Took #6. In the game you guess first, then the experiment plays out with your number: too few and it fails, too many and it overshoots.
Play It Took #6Play today’s experiments
More ice cubes questions
- How many ice cubes does it take to cool a glass of lemonade from 25°C to 5°C? About 3.
- How many ice cubes does it take to cool a mug of hot chocolate from 80°C to 50°C? About 3.
- How many ice cubes does it take to cool a pot of pasta water from 100°C to 40°C? About 80.
- How many ice cubes does it take to cool a hot bath from 40°C to 30°C? About 550.
- How many ice cubes does it take to cool a kiddie pool from 30°C to 20°C? About 2,000.
- How many ice cubes does it take to cool a hot tub from 38°C to 28°C? About 5,600.