Physics Question (I think)
13 June 2003, 12:00 AM
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Saw this question in the Daily Mail but didn't see an answer for it:
Why does metal at room temp feel cold to the touch yet wood, paper etc. feel warmer?
Been annoying me ever since I saw it over a week ago.
[Edited by fatherpierre - 6/13/2003 12:08:22 AM]
Why does metal at room temp feel cold to the touch yet wood, paper etc. feel warmer?
Been annoying me ever since I saw it over a week ago.
[Edited by fatherpierre - 6/13/2003 12:08:22 AM]
13 June 2003, 12:07 AM
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13 June 2003, 12:08 AM
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Think it is to do with the density of the object and the actual elements it is made up of.
The atoms will be moving slower in metal and faster in wood/paper etc giving the cold/warmer feeling you experience.
I think!! Only got a C in Physics
(edited to say.....Or the above!!
)
[Edited by Dougster - 6/13/2003 12:10:18 AM]
The atoms will be moving slower in metal and faster in wood/paper etc giving the cold/warmer feeling you experience.
I think!! Only got a C in Physics
(edited to say.....Or the above!!
)[Edited by Dougster - 6/13/2003 12:10:18 AM]
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13 June 2003, 12:23 AM
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It's all to do with conductivity...
For example, on a cold day, a piece of metal will feel colder than wood because the metal will conduct heat away from your hand more readily.
On a hot day, the metal feels hotter, because it will conduct heat to your hand. (Remember that heat will always travel to a cooler body.)
On each occasion the metal and wood are physically at the same temperature, but putting your hand on them causes them to conduct heat in a different way.
Metal is a better conductor of heat than wood, which is why metal is used for cooling fins!
For example, on a cold day, a piece of metal will feel colder than wood because the metal will conduct heat away from your hand more readily.
On a hot day, the metal feels hotter, because it will conduct heat to your hand. (Remember that heat will always travel to a cooler body.)
On each occasion the metal and wood are physically at the same temperature, but putting your hand on them causes them to conduct heat in a different way.
Metal is a better conductor of heat than wood, which is why metal is used for cooling fins!
13 June 2003, 01:05 AM
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From the Daily Mail, Tuesday, June 10, 2003 - Page 63
---------------
QUESTION Why does wood feel warm to the touch and metal cold?
THE temperature-sensitive nerve endings in your skin detect the difference between your inside body temperature and your outside skin temperature. When your skin cools, your temperature-sensitive nerves tell you that the object you are touching is cold.
To feel cold an object must be colder than your hand and carry your body heat away so that your skin cools down.
Wood and metal at room temperature are both colder than your hand. They do not feel equally cold because they carry heat away from your hand at different rates.
Wood has a low thermal conductivity, so when your hand touches the wood, heat flows from your hand to the wood and warms the wood surface. Because this heat is not conducted away quickly, the surface of the wood soon becomes as warm as your hand.
At this point there is no difference in temperature between the inside of your body and the outside of your skin, so the temperature-sensitive nerves detect no difference in temperature. The wood feels warm.
The metal is a good thermal conductor, so heat flows from your hand into the metal and then is conducted rapidly away into the bulk of the metal, leaving the metal surface and your skin surface cool.
Bill Pullings, Harrogate, N. Yorkshire.
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mb
[Edited to correct character recognition errors]
[Edited by boomer - 6/13/2003 1:13:12 AM]
---------------
QUESTION Why does wood feel warm to the touch and metal cold?
THE temperature-sensitive nerve endings in your skin detect the difference between your inside body temperature and your outside skin temperature. When your skin cools, your temperature-sensitive nerves tell you that the object you are touching is cold.
To feel cold an object must be colder than your hand and carry your body heat away so that your skin cools down.
Wood and metal at room temperature are both colder than your hand. They do not feel equally cold because they carry heat away from your hand at different rates.
Wood has a low thermal conductivity, so when your hand touches the wood, heat flows from your hand to the wood and warms the wood surface. Because this heat is not conducted away quickly, the surface of the wood soon becomes as warm as your hand.
At this point there is no difference in temperature between the inside of your body and the outside of your skin, so the temperature-sensitive nerves detect no difference in temperature. The wood feels warm.
The metal is a good thermal conductor, so heat flows from your hand into the metal and then is conducted rapidly away into the bulk of the metal, leaving the metal surface and your skin surface cool.
Bill Pullings, Harrogate, N. Yorkshire.
-----------
mb
[Edited to correct character recognition errors]
[Edited by boomer - 6/13/2003 1:13:12 AM]
13 June 2003, 01:11 AM
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Hummm,
Mr Pullings expanation does seem scarely similar to the one in http://www.exploratorium.edu/snacks/cold_metal.html as mentioned above!!!!
I wonder if he works with Ali Campbell?
mb
Mr Pullings expanation does seem scarely similar to the one in http://www.exploratorium.edu/snacks/cold_metal.html as mentioned above!!!!
I wonder if he works with Ali Campbell?
mb
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