Year 7 Science Question?

Question

When you put your hand on a metal surface and a wooden surfacein the same room, one surface feels cooler even though they both have the same temperature. Which surface is cooler? Explain why. How would they feel if their temperatures were both 50 degrees Celsius? Why?

Answer 1

One surface dissipates heat faster than the other because of specific heat capacity. Metal has a lower specific heat capacity than wood, so it would feel cooler to the touch as it would have troubling " holding " the heat.

Answer 2

The previous answer is close, but the big difference between wood and metal is actually the heat conductance.  You quickly warmed up the outer surface of the wood ( so it doesn't "feel" cold anymore ).  But the metal does such a good job of conducting the heat from your hand all over the metal plate, that you have to warm the whole thing up before it stops feeling cold.

By the way, the same thing happens in reverse too.  If you have a hot piece of metal and a hot piece of wood, the piece of metal will burn you more.

Answer 3

If they both have the same temperature, neither is cooler.

What you mean is that the metal surface FEELS cooler, because it better conducts heat from your warmer hand to the cooler metal.

If they are both 50C, the metal will feel warmer, again because it conducts heat better, this time heat from the metal to your cooler hand.