Exactly why does water cool down so much slower than it heats up?

Asked by: Seamus Hodgkinson

Water may seem to cool down much slower than it heats up because the heating up is an active process. I.e., when heating up water, you are putting it on a heat source which gives out a lot of energy in a short space of time. If you were able to create a 'cold' source which extracted energy at a similar rate, the temperature would drop just as quickly.

Answered by: James Kilner, Music Technology, University of York (England)