Why does something like carpet feel warmer than tile even when they’re the same temperature?
In: Physics
Because of thermal conductivity. Things that have higher temperature than human skin feel warm. Things that have lower temperature than skin feel cold. How warm or cold they feel depends on their temperature and also thermal conductivity. For example metals have higher thermal conductivity than plastics. So if you touch a metal rod it feels warmer than plastic rod of the same temperature(if they are warmer than skin) and also metal rod feels colder than plastic rod if they are the same temperature(but colder than skin).
I think it has to do with thermal conductivity. The same way a piece of metal feels colder than a piece of wood at the same temperature. Metal (for the most part) is a conductor and it is better at absorbing the heat from your body and thus feels colder (the metal and your skin are essentially trying to equalize temperatures when touching).
Wood, on the other hand, is a good insulator and resists the heat transfer between itself and your skin so it doesn’t feel as cold.
Hopefully people better informed in the ins and outs of thermal dynamics can chime in there and correct any misinformation in my not real educated explanation.
Your sensation of temperature isn’t based strictly off absolute temperature. A significant factor is the rate of temperature transfer.
A piece of metal conducts heat much better than a piece of wood. So if you pick up one of each, the difference in temperature between you and the object is going to move towards equilibrium much faster with the metal than it does the wood.
As a result, the metal will feel hotter/colder than the wood, even if they are the same temperature. That’s also why you can lick a tree in winter and just get splinters, but get frozen to a flagpole. It’s pulling the heat much more quickly than the tree (Please note I do not advocate untoward winter licking sprees as a test). Similarly, the air from a hot oven feels warm, but much less so than grabbing the metal rack, even though they’ve both been warmed to the same temperature.
Other answers are accurate, but they don’t mention an important term in thermodynamics:
Specific Heat Capacity: the amount of **heat** energy required to change the temperature of one unit of a substance.
A carpet has a low specific heat capacity. This means it does not take a lot of energy to change its temperature. So, when your feet touch carpet, the part of the carpet around your feet changes its temperature easily to match your feet, and your feet don’t change their temperature very much at all. It may even feel warm after a few seconds or minutes because the carpet can supply some insulation to prevent your body heat from escaping through your feet.
A tile floor has a high specific heat capacity, which means it takes a lot of energy to change its temperature. So when in contact with your feet, your feet will change temperature to match the tile more than the tile around your feet changes its temperature to match your feet. So your feet are actually getting colder from being on tile than carpet. It feels colder because it IS colder for your feet.
Note that if the floors were somehow incredibly hot, for example if on a hot summer day the sun shined down on the floors for awhile, your feet would feel hotter on the tile than the carpet! It is for the same reason. Your feet will change their temperature more when in contact with a surface that has a higher specific heat capacity, even when both surfaces are the same temperature.
Real ELI5 answer:
Carpet and tile are both colder than your body, but the tile is better at taking heat from you so it feels colder when you first touch it.
Skin isn’t a good thermometer. It doesn’t read temperature. But skin is great at detecting heat transfer, which is the flow of energy.
What you perceive as cold metal is energy flowing out. What you perceive as a burning hot stove is energy flowing in. Different materials transfer energy at different rates. Metals let energy flow quickly. Carpet doesn’t. This is what you’re feeling.
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