Why is it that if we wet our fingers before putting out a candle, we don’t get burned, but if we grab a hot pan out of the oven with a wet oven mitt, we get burned?

Question

Why is it that if we wet our fingers before putting out a candle, we don’t get burned, but if we grab a hot pan out of the oven with a wet oven mitt, we get burned?

In: Physics

Answer 1

I learned a similar lesson after bringing socks to the beach to help walk across the hot sand. I went back to our house at one point and thought it would be “really smart” if I dipped the socks in the cool pool water before heading back on the burning sand to our site. Big mistake.