I can drink something really hot, but if it spills on me, it would burn. Why?!


Question: If you drank a freshly made cup of tea the way you would a glass of water, it would burn you. Just watch a small child with their first cup of tea, even when it's really milky they tend to drink it they way they do cold drinks, and then they say 'it's too hot!'. As adults we are used to hot drinks and automatically take tiny sips, sucking in some air at the same time to cool our mouths down.

I also think our mouths are designed to cope with higher temperatures as well.


Answers: If you drank a freshly made cup of tea the way you would a glass of water, it would burn you. Just watch a small child with their first cup of tea, even when it's really milky they tend to drink it they way they do cold drinks, and then they say 'it's too hot!'. As adults we are used to hot drinks and automatically take tiny sips, sucking in some air at the same time to cool our mouths down.

I also think our mouths are designed to cope with higher temperatures as well.

because its really hot

Different numbers of nerve endings in the mouth and skin.
Think of how sensitive the fingertips are.

Because your mouth is designed to withstand higher temperatures than the rest of your body.

All wrong so far. Because you cool it, when you sip it, that little sip mixes air and cools the liquid.

Maybe because your mouth has fewer heat sensitive nerves than your skin. Air also has something to do with it too!

You do have different nerves on the outside than in, but even though you don't feel it as much, hot drinks kill these little hairs in your esophagus. be careful!





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