Put your ears to the test; you can hear the temperature difference in water.
The brain is a beautiful tool which pushes our senses to decipher many tiny little details. Some may be something we do unconsciously, which when we come to think more of it will significantly amaze us.
Think, for instance, the sound the water makes as it gets poured into a bowl. Many of us instantly know a liquid is poured into the cup and may even go as far as stating the temperature of the fluid.
To put this little knowledge to the test here. Just grab an earphone and take a listen to the two sounds that water made as it gets poured into a glass.
Which of the sound do you think is hot water and which do you think is cold water?
We will find out how much you fared later on the article.
The test was initially inspired by Condiment Junkie, a British company that are into sensory-branding. They make use of sensory strategy, such as brand scent or sonic mnemonic, to make consumers identify with a product. The strategies which they employ all have scientific underpinning which they say is guaranteed to provide the desired result.
You would surprise that you may have nailed the test.
Over the years, your brain has subconsciously made a choice of rightfully picking which liquid is hot or cold just by the sound of it.
The difference between the two is something to do with the branch of science known as the fluid mechanics and more specifically the viscosity of the liquid. The viscosity is basically a measure of how "thick" or "thin" a liquid is.
Warm water is less viscous than cold water, this implies that its molecules
do not cling readily to one another as in the case of a cold water.
Assuming you have a powerful microscope, say a scanning tunneling microscope (STM), to observe water molecules. The water molecules has the shape of a bommerang.
At each point of the apex of the boomerang, an oxyhen atom has two hydrogen atoms. But we all know that oxygen loves electrons, by pulling electrons and hydrogen to itself, it makes the oxygen to be minus.
The hydrogen, on the other hand, becomes plus. The water molecules as a solution has two types of charged atoms; the negatively charged hydrogen atoms and the postively charged oxygen atom. The negatively charged oxygens attract the adjacent positively charged hydrogens in a phenomenon known as hydrogen bonding. That is what makes the water to be viscous or "sticky".
But when the temperature of the water is increased by boiling, the water molecules starts to move more rapidly as a result of kinetic energy induced by the raise in temperature.
That makes the bond that glued them together to be loosened making the water to less viscous or runnier than the cold water.
As the hot water hits a container or glass, it fragments into more smaller particles which creates a higher pitch.
Now the results are in, Sound 1 is that of a cold water and Sound 2 is that of a hot water.
How did you fare?
Did you ace it?
Lemme hear your thoughts in the comment section.
The perception of time could be changed through the use of colour. Study finds that this affects only men.
A blue-painted room makes time appear to pass slower while that of a red room makes it appear faster.
This is because red makes us more alert by increasing the heart rate which makes us acutely more aware of time.
REFEERENCES
. Can you tell the difference between hot water and cold water by listening?
. Your Ears Can Actually Tell The Difference Between Hot And Cold Water
. Wikipedia: Temperature dependence of liquid viscosity
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I aced it! Awesome.
Greenrun the science afficionado.
Btw: did you hear that Stephen Hawkings passed on?
R.I.P to his soul. He was a great thinker.
I read about it on Twitter early this morning. He was a great physicist. The scientists all over the world would greatly miss him. You should check out the movie The Theory of Everything which was based on his life.
Yeah! I saw that movie some years back. SO touching.
He was a fighter, both in life and science.
He was a theoretical physicist. I was sad he passed away but I guess it was really his time to rest. He wasn’t in a very good condition
It’s so sad 😞
I heard about it on the steemstem discord channel , I thought it was just someone trying to be sarcastic so I went ahead to google and realized it was very true ..He’s been of great value to the world for his 79 years here 🙏
Indeed it was a great loss. He was 76 years (1942–2018).
Thank you.
Wow 😮
You make chemistry seem so easy lol.
About the fun fact
I don’t think I’ll be able to stay in a room that’s painted red 😂
And I’m not a man so 🏃🏽♀️🏃🏽♀️🏃🏽♀️
That's good for you :)
"runnier" you created that word and it's really funny. I got it that the first sound is from a cold water cause it kind of makes a stronger noise. and you said it all with your explanation. That's why I love understanding things from its first principle, just as you used molecular chemistry to trash this one. Nice one bro.
As much as I would like to take credit for inventing the word "runnier", I'm sorry to say that is not true. Thank you.
The first sound is the warm water...The sound was less viscous unlike the second sound which the water was thick.
Hope i got?
The answer is in the article :) Thank you.
I may not have listened to the sound via a "Beat by Dr Dre" kind of headphone, but I could tell the difference. And I think I may have aced it :).
Nice one buddy.
IMO, It's cooler to sleep in a room painted blue. And yes! My bedroom is in colour blue :p
You painted your room blue? Oh, I forgot, boy's room are blue while girls' are pink. That is as stereotypical as stereotypes go :)
This is crazy af. I wonder how the world would be if we aren't curious. Findings would stay unfound.... Invention would see no inventor.
Nice one broda @greenrun. I couldn't have imagined this existed..
Thank you.
You're welcomed sire
Quite an amazing article here @greenrun. I could tell the difference between the sounds, even though I had never thought of it in that way.
I've always known the relationship between the movement of molecules and temperature changes, only that I hadn't thought of it in regards to being able to "hear" whether water is hot or cold.
The concept of molecular movement and temperature variation is also applicable to ocean currents and density of the ocean water, which comprises of warm and cold ocean currents. This is because cold water is more dense and heavy, due to low temp and its slow-moving or reacting molecules. While hot water is lighter, less dense and flows more freely due to rapid movement of the molecules.
A very informative post @greenrun, thanks for sharing.
Thank you very much for this insightful comment. My reply may be some days late as I missed it.
I quite agree with the concept of the color change affecting the way we feel about time and how the red color affects the heart cos I was also taught in school how color affects the health of animals. It is a study we have carried out,
That's an interesting perspective. I'd read that up. Thank you.
This has to do with the synapses recording memories in the neural pathway.
As the hot water hits a container or glass, it fragments into more smaller particles which creates a higher pitch.
This is so apt. I wonder why i never thought of it before.
There are lots of things we never really pay attention to. But we live it daily.
Aced it! What a very fun and informative article! I had never given if thought before reading this but once i could reflect on it. For sure! It's a thing.
Really cool 😁
Thank you :)