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

Even if they were the same temperature to start with, there’s very little hot matter in a candle flame compared to the hot pan. The total amount of energy in a candle flame at any given time is quite low, and the water on your fingers is sufficient to absorb the heat by the time the flame goes out. In contrast, a pan hot out of the oven holds significantly more heat, enough to heat the water in the mitt to sufficient temperature to burn you.