A lab technician took two identical vials of flu vaccine out of a laboratory refrigerator. She left
one near the refrigerator and put the other on a counter near a window. This table shows
how the temperature of each vial changed over 20 minutes.
Vial
Vial near the window
Vial near the refrigerator 3.8
Initial temperature (°C) Final temperature (°C)
3.1
5.6
6.3
The next time the lab technician takes a vial of flu vaccine out of the refrigerator, she does
not want it to warm up quickly. What should she do to minimize the rate of thermal energy
transfer into the vial?