why did a portion of the table top get cold when Natasha placed her cold drink on the table
What do you think?
When Natasha placed her cold drink on the table, a portion of the table top got cold due to a process called conduction.
Conduction is the transfer of heat through direct contact between two objects at different temperatures. In this case, the cold drink had a lower temperature than the table top. When the drink was placed on the table, the molecules in the drink started to collide with the molecules in the table top.
The molecules in the cold drink have less thermal energy compared to the molecules in the table top. As they collide with the table top molecules, they transfer some of their energy to them. This energy transfer causes the table top molecules to vibrate at a higher rate, resulting in an increase in temperature in the portion of the table top in contact with the cold drink.
As a result, the portion of the table top in direct contact with the cold drink loses heat and becomes colder. The change in temperature is felt as a cold sensation when touched with our hands or any other part of our body.
So, the cold drink cools down the table top through the process of conduction, where heat is transferred from the higher temperature object (the table top) to the lower temperature object (the cold drink).