[Physics] How cold should it be outside for a hot coffee mug to break

heatthermodynamics

So I like to go outside for a morning coffee with a cigarette. In winter here it's usually between -5C to -25C, and sometimes it gets down to -30C and colder. Assuming that my coffee is about 75-80C, what are the chances that the coffee mug will shatter in the cold?

My mug is made from some kind of organic glass with a seam in the middle like it's two halves glued together.

I don't know if this question is serious enough for this site, but, basically, I wanted to know which precautions should I take to avoid breaking the mug?

Best Answer

It sounds as if your mug is made from Pyrex or some similar low expansion glass. Experiment suggests that if I pour boiling water at 100C into a similar mug in my kitchen (around 15C first thing in the morning) the abrupt 85C temperature change doesn't shatter it. Given this, the 45C difference between room temperature and -25C isn't likely to cause problems, especially since the cooling to -25C will be slow.

You might want to avoid putting the mug down on a very cold surface (which would cause more rapid cooling) but I doubt if even this would have much effect.