Re: [Phys-L] physics and potatoes

["Anthony Lapinski" <Anthony_Lapinski@pds.org>]

Hewitt's original question was this:

In terms of physics, why do restaurants serve baked potatoes wrapped in
aluminum foil?

So this seems a little vague. What does "serve" mean/imply? Was the potato
baked with foil on,
or was the foil added later?



Phys-L@Phys-L.org writes:
> > Here's Hewitt's answer from the Instructor's Manual:
> >
> > The main reason for _SERVING_ potatoes wrapped in aluminum foil
> > is to increase the time that the potatoes remain hot after being
> > removed from the oven. ... 
> [Emphasis added]
>
> I suspect that the top post in this thread got everyone heading off in
> the wrong direction (or maybe Hewitt is confusing himself).
>
> The solution is about SERVING potatoes, not BAKING them.  If Hewitt is
> answering a different question than he himself asked, then he was DOUBLY
> confusing.  If Anthony was mis-remembering ("I saw a question in Hewitt
> about why potatoes are wrapped in foil for _BAKING_".), then all of a
> sudden Hewitt seems considerably more intelligent.  (I don't have the
> book to check.) 
>
> Tim 
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