Mathematical Method Assignment Submission Newtons Law of Cooling (Question 2)

Mathematical Method Assignment Submission

Newtons Law of Cooling
Azizi Bin Rosli 1312387
Muhamad Azwan Bin Jaafar 1316401
Mohammad Amar Bin Ridzwan 1314441
Muhammad Jundullah Bin Ismail 1318065
International Islamic University Malaysia

1.

Introduction

Hot and cold have been an improper concept until the subjective measurement of temperature
around the time of Galileo came up. It was not precise since temperature was measured by various
indicator, e.g. the change in colour or glow of a heated iron. The more precise measurements of
temperature came during the time of the invention of Celsius and Fahrenheit by Anders Celsius
and Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit respectively in the early 18th century. Temperature differs quite
a lot in our surrounding, thus resulting to an important phenomena which causes heat to flow.
The second law of thermodynamics suggest that heat could only transfer from an object of higher
temperature to an object of a lower temperature until they both reach the state of thermal equilibrium a state where there is no net heat transfer between both object. In the late 17th century, the
first experiment on the nature of cooling was made by Sir Isaac Newton, noting that the rate at
which the heat loss will be proportional to the difference in the temperature when the difference
between temperatures of two different objects is small which is approximately less than 10 C.
The model circulate around finding the rate of change of temperature of an object with respect
to time,

d
dt ,

and around the idea that temperature would change as long as there is difference in

temperature between the object and the surrounding, ( S, S = Temperature of Surrounding).

Past experiments suggest that the arithmetical change in the time would result in a geometrical
change in the temperature.

Mathematical Method Assignment Submission Newtons Law of Cooling (Question 2)

2.

Case Study

Question 2: According to Newtons Law of Cooling, if is the temperature of the object at time t,
we have
d
= k( S)
dt
Find the solution under the initial condition 0 .
Suppose that a corpse was discovered in a motel room at midnight and its temperature was 75 F.
The temperature of the room is kept constant at 60 F. Two hours later the temperature of the
corpse dropped to 68 F. Find the time of death.

2.1

Solving the Differential Equation

Given,
d
= k( S)
dt
By rearranging the equation we get,
d
= k dt
S
Integrating both side,
Z

d
=
S

k dt

We come to,
ln | S| = kt + C = eln| S| = ekt+C
Which result in,
S = ekt+C

Hence solution for is,

= ekt+C + S

Mathematical Method Assignment Submission Newtons Law of Cooling (Question 2)

2.2

Initial Value Problem

Before we could solve the problem, we need to know all the constant k, C and . By using the
initial condition 0 and the surrounding temperature 60 F, we could find the constant C. Since
0 = (0) = 75 F, thus
75 F = e(0)k+C + 60 F = eC + 60 F
Solving for C,

C = ln|75 F 60 F| = ln 15 2.708050201
It was said, that after 2 hours, the temperature of the corpse was 68 F, hence the following applies
68 F = e2k+2.708050201 + 60 F
Solving for k,

k=

ln|68 F 60 F| 2.708050201
0.314304329
2

Hence the final solution for with (0) = 75 F is

= e0.314304329t+2.708050201 + 60 F

2.3

Solving the Case

Since our reference point for (t) is (0) = 75 F, (2) = 68 F means that the body drop its
temperature from 75 F to 68 F after 2 hours from t = 0. Remember that we were told to find the
time of death, assuming that the body temperature of the dead body was 98.6 F when it was first
killed 98.6 F is the standard temperature for human body in Fahrenheit. Filling up the equation,
we get

98.6 F = e0.314304329t+2.708050201 + 60 F

Mathematical Method Assignment Submission Newtons Law of Cooling (Question 2)

Solving for t,

ln|98.6 F 60 F| 2.708050201
t=
3.007283032 hours
0.314304329
It shows that the body is at the temperature 98.6 F approximately -3 hours after midnight, which
means 3 hours before midnight. It could be concluded that the time of death was 3 hours before
the corpse was discovered in a motel room at midnight.

2.4

New but Similar Problem

Suppose that a pack of blood at 36 C that has been withdrawn from a person need to be stored in
nitrogen filled cold storage room for 2 hours. The temperature in the storage room are kept at

10 C. When the blood is taken out after 2 hours, the temperature has fallen to 5.5 C. Predict the
temperature of the blood after 30 minutes it was stored. Try again after 1 hour.