In a thermodynamic class I took in 1989, the professor was talking about the transfer of heat and someone asked this question. The prof. didn’t attempt to explain it because it was off topic from the lecture, but he did say the answer had a more complex biological reason, and not that the floor was actually colder.
In: Biology
Imagine two different things are traveling the same speed. Let’s say a baseball and a car. Both traveling 60 mph.
If both hit you, one is going to hurt a lot more, even though they were traveling the same speed. Some materials have more “weight” … aka Thermal Mass.
Air has terrible thermal properties. It’s why you can reach into an oven, and the 350F air doesn’t bother you very much. But if you touch a 350F metal baking sheet you get burned instantly.
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