A Quick Puzzler for You Physics Majors
Or anyone else who's just knowledgeable about this sort of thing.
I have a lovely espresso machine that I use daily to make my morning latte (you wouldn't believe how much money I save that way). Now on the machine there's a steam nozzle (for steaming and foaming the milk). I never heat the milk ahead of time, so when I first start the steaming, the nozzle and steam make a very loud very high-pitched noise. As the milk warms, the noise level decreases and the pitch goes down.
What is the relationship between the temperature of the milk and the volume and pitch of the sound coming from the steam nozzle? I'm sure there's some regular physics-type equation to explain it, but my physics courses were long ago, and I'm sure we didn't cover steaming milk anyway.
Thanks for all answers and explanations!
I have a lovely espresso machine that I use daily to make my morning latte (you wouldn't believe how much money I save that way). Now on the machine there's a steam nozzle (for steaming and foaming the milk). I never heat the milk ahead of time, so when I first start the steaming, the nozzle and steam make a very loud very high-pitched noise. As the milk warms, the noise level decreases and the pitch goes down.
What is the relationship between the temperature of the milk and the volume and pitch of the sound coming from the steam nozzle? I'm sure there's some regular physics-type equation to explain it, but my physics courses were long ago, and I'm sure we didn't cover steaming milk anyway.
Thanks for all answers and explanations!