The Thermal Properties of Coke

In the UK, we’re in the middle of a heatwave.  Other countries would absolutely laugh at how crap we are at dealing with heat (and in their eyes, it’s “only” 30° C, after all) but for the UK it’s more than enough. As with snow, we’re a nation of mid-range and changeable weather, so we’ve never had any need to invest in infrastructure to deal with more ‘extreme’ (and again, that’s in the context of our weather, not other places in the world!) temperatures. We generally don’t have air-conditioning in houses and offices by default, nor the stuff for dealing with snow, winds, rain or anything.

Anyway, for us, it’s hot.  And every time it’s hot like this, I’m reminded that Cola (whether diet or full-fat) is a strange, strange beast.

Obviously Cola is best drunk cold – as cold as possible. But it’s crap at staying cold.  Leave it for ten to fifteen minutes and it’ll be warm.

On the other end of the scale, leave it in a car to get hot, and it’ll stay hot for hours.  The full-fat sugary one is the worst for it, but even the diet ones do this, so I don’t think it’s a facet of the sugar content.

There’s no real point to this – I just find it interesting that it’s a liquid/substance whose thermal properties are different according to whether it’s hot or cold.

Yes, I need to get out more.