Why does aluminum foil never get hot to the touch. You can leave it in the oven and touch it directly out of the oven without it feeling hot. Why is this?
In: Physics
Back when I was about 12 (looong time ago) Mr. Ireland (known, inevitably, as Paddy) was trying to get across to a new class the difference between heat and temperature. He heated a needle to white heat, dropped it in a liter of cold water, had us all feel that the water was still cold. He heated a lump of steel in boiling water, dropped it into his liter and it had an easily discernable effect on the temperature. There you go, he said, the needle was at a much higher temperature the steel contained more heat energy. The foil may be very hot but it doesn’t contain much heat, and it cools quickly, so your fingers can’t detect it. edman007-work probably explains it better
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