My brother bought me a really nice thermos, but it's my first one. Do you even know how these things work?

Question

He said I can keep cold things cold, and hot things hot. But there are no temperature buttons or switches, so how can it know what temperature I want? The owner's manual was of no help. It just said to never drink bleach or other household chemicals out of your thermos.

What does it mean?

exitseven · Accepted Answer

okay- The thermos bottle has an inner liner that creates a gap between the inner liner and the outer shell. A vacuum is created in that gap. Since there is nothing in a vacuum that can conduct heat, the hot stuff you put into the thermos will stay hot and a cold beverage will stay cold. No batteries are needed,.

ShiftingMonke · Accepted Answer

Holy Thermodynamics Batman, it must Suck making one of those! And no electricity to function? Nature must abhor its operating principle..

Likes2drive · Answer

Lo, it just keeps the liquid the same temperature it was for a very long time since it is a vacuum between the walls of the thermos

SnowedIn · Answer

Oh, Gummy, where to begin. I'm glad I have a glass of wine. I'm not sure it goes with my other meds but, frankly, I'm equally not sure I care. But I digress.

First, you have a really nice brother. The last Thermos I got was in August, 1987. I miss that Thermos. My father was interviewed by Thermos but he went to work for Xerox instead. Back when they were going places. Xerox, that is, not Thermos.

Next, it isn't the size of the bee, you see, it is the size of the bumble in the bee. That nuance makes a difference. It will be lost on those who have, well, no nuance, or, for that matter, don't like gerbils, or -- gasp -- those who don't like comments on their questions. Had one of mine removed today by what I can only imagine was an indignant asker. You remember the one... snarky about America and Americans. And, yes, while there is much for us to discuss it should be that, an adult discussion, and certainly not getting huffy with me for pointing out that had anyone asked her question about any other country besides America, the post would have been gone quicker than you can say gerbil. But I think I digressed again.

See, bees are not 747s but they work kinda the same. On slightly different scales. A fully fueled 747-800 can hold about 63,500 gallons of fuel which is only slightly less milk than my teenage boys drink a week and only half as many texts as my 11 year old daughter sends to her friends, but to put that in perspective, that amount is 9.6% of the capacity of an Olympic-size swimming pool. That's a lot of bumble.

And, while I think that @HollyK21 is WAAAAAAAAAY more smartly than I am and she's right, I believe we all may be missing something about the Thermos. See, 'therm' is the Latin root for "heat" or "temperature" and 'mos' is the ancient root for "Mossad", the Israeli intelligence agency. And those folks are smart. So, "Thermos" really means "Smart Temperature". Which means AI. So the answer to your question of how the Thermoses (wait, Thermi? Thermoseses? How the heck do you pluralize "Thermos"?) work is AI. I believe the branding in the EU has been revised to Thermos Gpt.

(Michael's first girlfriend, Lana, spoke Latin.)

@shiftingmonke

RavVid · Answer

A thermos flask works by having a high resistance to heat flow either in or out. So cold liquids will stay cold for longer and hot liquids will stay hot for longer. Heat transfers by either conduction, radiation or convection. Basic physics.

Usually the bottle is a double wall with a vacuum between the walls - so little convection heat exchange. With a thin connection between the double walls not so much conduction heat exchange. If the wall is polished or silvered heat is reflected back so not so much radiative heat exchange.

All passive and unpowered so no buttons needed. If it is say coffee you make it as hot as you want. it will be cooler when you drink it because there is some heat exchange.

Try it. Make a hot or cold drink and pour it in. Close the top and sample it in an hour. It will be warmer or cooler than if you left it in a cup or glass.

mark000h · Answer

Ok, the way it works is if you want to keep something hot, pour hot water into it, let it sit for a few minutes, then empty the water and pour the hot drink or soup into it and close it with the small lid tightly, then close with the cup lid on top of that.

For cold, fill the thermos with ice water. Let it sit for a few minutes, then empty the water and fill with your cold drink, with some ice if you like. It'll stay cold. Replace the small lid tightly like with the hot and then close the cup lid on top of that.

Enjoy ☺

OfMiceandMen · Answer

It is insulated such that whatever you put into the thermos will either stay hot or cold longer. No buttons or gizmos, just pour stuff in at what temp you want your food to stay and it should come out approximately the same temp after a couple of hours.

Pyrofox · Answer

Its basically a giant insulated on the go container for like hot tea, soups, or cold drinks.

As to the whole no bleach or chemicals it just means keep it limited to either "food/drink items or soap." With the latter clearly to clean not eat by the way. XD.

HollyK21 · Answer

If you put in something hot or cold, it stays hot or cold.

NewsReader · Answer

If you want your food to be hot for hours, pour hot water into it, close the lid, and let it sit for 10 minutes. Open the lid, pour out the water, put hot food inside, close the lid, and your food will stay hot for hours. If you want something to stay cold, do the opposite.

Christsdisciple15 · Answer

Put cold drinks in there and they will remain cold for a longer time, and put hot drinks in there and they will remain hot for a longer time

purplepoppy · Answer

Relax, they've got a built in sensor. Just remember to keep it charged.

Bricealan · Answer

You can 'condition' the thermos for whatever you are putting in it. Example: For hot drinks, put very hot water in it for a few minutes before the drink you want to stay hot, and do the same for a cold drink. I put crushed ice in my thermos before putting in the drink I am taking to the beach etc. The true 'thermos' is a double wall, container with an empty area between which acts as insulation for whatever you are taking.

TacosRAwesome · Answer

Basically if you put a hot drink in it it stays hot. If you put a cold drink it stays cold. It somewhat keeps the original temperature.

Iron_Man · Answer

That’s for cold drinks or hot soup I prefer the hard kind not soft plastic

Surely · Answer

There is a hamster in there that runs on a wheel to power the temperature thingy!

Jennz6 · Answer

Yes, what @hollyk21 said is correct

douride2 · Answer

I have no idea how a thermos knows whether to keep a liquid hot or cold? LOL

msc545 · Answer

Put stuff in it, and the thermos maintains the starting temperature for a long time but not forever. Simple.

KrakenAttackin · Answer

Sounds like a Thermos is too technical for you, donate it to good will.

Stevefiveo · Answer

Witchcraft for sure!

NostalgiaSenpi · Answer

It's voodoo

My brother bought me a really nice thermos, but it's my first one. Do you even know how these things work?

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