Scientific question about temperature?

[RosePetals]

Hi there,
I’m involved in an experiment the difference between the temperatures of drinks being colder in a can or bottle when being refrigerated at the same with the same beginning temperature before being refrigerated. Which one would you think and why?

[Zag]

It depends on the materials of the can or bottle. I'll assume a plastic bottle, which makes it easier. Plastic is a significantly worse conductor of heat than any metal, so it will insulate the soda more than the can. With a glass bottle, I am not sure. I think that glass is a worse heat conductor than aluminum, but it's probably close. Then the additional surface area presented by the bottle might matter.

All the things that matter, that I can think of:

Material and mass of the container. (Both heat conductivitiy and specific heat of the material, because you have to get the container cold, too.)

The shape of the container. (More surface area means more heat transfer.)

How full it is. You would only count the heat conductivity of the container where the soda touches it. Where the soda touches air, you have to count the conductivity of the air as well, and air is a terrible conductor of heat (i.e. a good insulator).

Amount of soda. But I'm assuming you are choosing a can and a bottle that contain the same amount. If not, more soda means more heat that has to be lost to change the temperature.
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[MatthewV]

The thermal resistance of glass, aluminum alloy, or plastic (HDPE) really won't matter. My approximation of the R-values is 0.0026 for glass, 0.0000048 for aluminum alloys, and 0.0014 for HDPE. All of these values are muted by the resistance of the air film (0.68).

Therefor I would choose container with the greatest surface area or best shape for natural convection.

Assumptions:
Thickness [in]: glass = 0.02, Al alloy = 0.005, HDPE = 0.005
Thermal conductivity [W/m K]: glass = 1.1, Al alloy = 150, HDPE = 0.5