Temperature and the eleven minute rule

[mrnuggets]

In a bar the other night, a fellow said that adding a can of liquid to ice will provide the lowest temperature in eleven minutes. It will get no colder he said. I have learned about adding ice, water, salt, and spinning the can, to get a low serving temperature in two minutes, but if I place a can of soda or beer in ice and let it sit, will it get to its coldest temperature ever and if so , will it be eleven minutes? He said the starting temperature may not matter, but we will assume something like room temperature for our beginning point.

[Physicsgirl]

rate of heat flow is proportional to difference in temperature. So the closer in temperature your can and ice get, the slower the can will lose heat energy. Once the can and ice are at the same temperature they will both start heating again once the ice has melted due to the temp of the room. Whilst the ice melts they will stay around zero. Depends how much ice, surely?