Question

Why are hot water bottles used for fermentation?

Answer 1

Hint: Hot bottles help maintain the temperature of water for a long duration of time.

Step by step answer:Water is used as an effective coolant because of its large specific heat capacity due to which it can extract more heat. Due to its large specific heat capacity, water does not cool quickly and so provides heat for a long time. Also, water absorbs more heat due to its high specific heat capacity for a small rise in its temperature, so it is also used as a universal coolant. Water has high SHC and hence water can store a large amount of heat energy at a fairly low temperature. The process of breaking down any substance by the help of bacteria or the yeast is termed as the fermentation.
Fermentation has a vital role in the food processing industry for the transformation of the carbohydrates to organic acids.
The specific heat of water is maximum. Therefore, for a given volume and temperature the heat possessed by water is maximum. The reason is that water does not cool quickly due to its high specific heat capacity, so a hot water bottle provides more heat energy for fomentation over a longer period.
Hot water bottles are used for fomentation because water remains hot for a longer time due to its high specific heat. High specific heat means water has to lose a great amount of heat to cool down as compared to other liquids.

Note: The purpose of fermentation is to regenerate the electron carriers used in glycolysis and produce a small amount of ATP.