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===Surface Area to Volume Ratio===
The cooling rate of the exposed wort is influenced by a number of factors including the ambient temperature, the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_conductivity thermal conductivity] of the coolship material, and the surface area to volume ratio <ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/science/aqa/heatingandcooling/heatingrev6.shtml ''Energy transfer by heating''. BBC website, Bitesize section. Retrieved 7/24/2015.]</ref>. The most important factor is the ambient temperature, but the easiest variable to control is the surface area to volume ratio. The greater the surface area of a given liquid the faster it will cool <ref>[http://www.fmf.uni-lj.si/~planinsic/articles/Cheese%20cubes_EJP.pdf The surface-to-volume ratio in thermal physics: from cheese cube physics to animal metabolism. Gorazd Planinsic and Michael Vollmer. European Journal of Physics. 29 (2008) 369–384.]</ref>. For example, imagine 100 liters of hot liquid is in a very wide and flat container. It will cool much faster than if it was in a perfectly square container, and even faster still than if it was in a spherical container. See [http://wordpress.mrreid.org/2011/10/20/spherical-ice-cubes-and-surface-area-to-volume-ratio/ this article for another explanation of how surface area to volume ratio affects cooling]. The surface area to volume ratio also affects the inoculation rate. The more surface area to volume ratio, the more microorganisms will be collected in the coolship for the given volume of wort <ref>="Howat"></ref>.
Some brewers claim that controlling the speed of cooling is important to assembling a desired blend of microorganisms in the wort <ref name="Howat">[http://www.homebrewersassociation.org/how-to-brew/resources/conference-seminars/ ''Wild and Spontaneous Fermentation at Home''. Presentation by James Howat at 2015 NHC.]</ref>. Microbes survive and multiply at different temperatures and cooling too long or too fast may produce a beer that lacks desirable character or possesses an excess of undesirable character. A larger surface area of wort will allow for greater inoculation of microbes although if the wort cools too quickly the majority of inoculation will occur at cooler temperatures and affect the ratio and growth of various microbes in the wort. (For more information on the effects of the cooling rate see [[Spontaneous Fermentation]].)