The inside of a field cucumber is twenty degrees Fahrenheit cooler than its surroundings
the verdict
CONTESTED
contested - evenly split
refutedsupported
the weight of evidence
1 source for · 1 against
AS REPORTEDno primary record reached; this is what the reporting says
Retrieved sources present conflicting information, with one reference acknowledging the premise and another critique questioning whether cucumbers are naturally cooler than their environment.
# Is the inside of a field cucumber 20 degrees Fahrenheit cooler than its surroundings?
Tags: biology
- Score: 18
- Views: 7918
- Answers: 2
- Answered: yes
- Asked by: user1787270 (291 rep)
- Asked: 2014-04-09
- Edited: 2014-04-10
- Site: skeptics
## Question
I've heard this claim before, but every time I dig deeper I am unable to find a reason for why cucumbers would be significantly colder than their surroundings. Is there any validity to this claim? If so, why does this phenomenon occur?
Example: How Stuff Works: Cucumbers: Natural Food
All that water also gives cucumbers their unique refreshing quality, especially on a hot summer day. The phrase "cool as a cucumber" is actually a scientific fact: The inside temperature of a cucumber can be up to 20 degrees cooler than the outside air [source: CDC].
Note: The linked CDC page does not (no longer?) mention cucumbers. Presumably 20 degrees refers to an interval of 20 degrees Fahrenheit (an interval of about 11 degrees Celsius).
## Answers
### Answer by Flimzy (score: 13 [ACCEPTED])
Cucumbers, like all matter, are made up of, uh... matter.
And all matter has properties of thermal conductivity which dictate how quickly h
How Cool Is a Cucumber? - The Atlantic
# How Cool Is a Cucumber?
AUTHOR, with his wife Margery, of various oddities in the field of natural science which first appeared in the Atlantic and which were recently published in book form, LORUS J. MILNE is a teacher, biologist, and biophysicist in the Department of Zoology at the University of Vermont.
By[Lorus J. Milne](https://www.theatlantic.com/author/lorus-j-milne/)
[April 1948Issue](https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/toc/1948/04/)
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*SCIENCE*
*by*LORUS J. MILNE
SCIENCE is wonderful. It measures everything. Even the proverbial coolness of a green cucumber comes in for evaluation and explanation. The cuke, it seems, is not particularly notable for low temperatures. Its real coolness comes from the refrigerator, not the garden, for only the shade of the vine’s leaves out of doors keeps it from getting hot on a summer day.
Lettuce is a very different vegetable. Not that the iceberg variety would be attractive to polar bears in J