Try it on paper first. A hint, the key idea and the worked solution are here when you need them.
Water in a pot of unglazed clay stays cooler than water in a steel pot, on a hot day.
Evaporation cools: the fastest particles leave, and the liquid takes the heat it needs from its surroundings, . At skin temperature each gram of sweat takes about . Power is heat divided by time, and .
Have you tried it?
Work it out on paper first. It is fine to get stuck or make a mistake: that is how we learn. When you are ready, go through the solution one step at a time, and check each step against your own.
Step 1. (a) A little water seeps through the tiny holes of the clay to the outer surface, and evaporates there. The evaporation takes its latent heat from the pot and from the water inside, so the water stays cool. A steel pot has no holes, so nothing evaporates from its outside.
Step 2. (b) , so .
Answer: (a) Evaporation from the outer surface cools it. (b) .
Check. The pot cools best on a dry, windy day, when evaporation is fastest.
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