Heat Transfer: Why Metal Feels Colder Than Wood
Conduction, convection, boiling and radiation explained through heat sinks, steaks, candle flames in orbit, wading birds and frost on clear nights.
Try 3 questions
1. A metal railing and a wooden bench sit outside at the same cold temperature. Why does the metal feel colder?
- It is actually several degrees colder
- It draws heat from your skin faster
- It holds less heat than wood does
Show the answer
Answer: It draws heat from your skin faster
Your skin senses heat loss, not temperature; metal's high conductivity pulls heat away quickly, so the contact surface chills.
2. Heat from the Sun crosses 150 million km of near-vacuum to reach Earth. Which mode carries it?
- Conduction
- Convection
- Radiation
Show the answer
Answer: Radiation
Conduction and convection need matter; electromagnetic radiation is the only mode that travels through empty space.
3. A fan doesn't lower a room's air temperature. Why does it still make you feel cooler?
- Moving air is always colder air
- It speeds convection and sweat evaporation
- It removes heat from the air itself
Show the answer
Answer: It speeds convection and sweat evaporation
Moving air thins the warm, humid layer next to your skin, raising convective and evaporative heat loss; the room itself even warms slightly from the motor.
The whole quiz comes before your apps
BrainTok asks a few questions like these before the apps you choose open, so your screen time turns into learning. For iPhone.
Join the beta