Answer:
The refrigerator was at around 13 ∘C
Step-by-step explanation:
Newton's Law of Cooling:
The rate of change of a body temperature (amount of heat loss/time of loss) is directly proportional to the difference between its own temperature and the surroundings.
T ⇒ temperature
t ⇒ time
Tenv ⇒refrigerator temperature
⇒ rate of change of he temperature
-h ⇒ constant of proportionality (negative because the temperature is decreasing inside the refrigerator)
We have 3 points:
time (minutes) - Temperature (∘ C)
0 (when the pan was put in the refrigerator) - 46
15 (after 15 minutes) - 27
30 (15 minutes after the first 15 minutes) - 19
= -h (27 - Tenv)
= -h (19 - Tenv)
Now we have a system of two equations and two variables
The refrigerator was at around 13 ∘C