Melissa burned her hand on the stove. Why did putting her hand in a bowl of cold water make the burn less severe?
A. Cold transferred to her hand from the water by convection.
B. Cold transferred to her hand from the water by conduction.
C. Heat transferred from her hand to the water by convection.
D. Heat transferred from her hand to the water by conduction.
The correct answer is B. Cold transferred to her hand from the water by conduction.
When Melissa burned her hand on the stove, the high temperature of the heat source caused damage to her skin cells by breaking down proteins and causing inflammation. To reduce the severity of the burn, she put her hand in a bowl of cold water. The cold water helped in mitigating the damage by transferring heat away from her hand through a process called conduction.
Conduction is the transfer of heat between objects that are in direct contact with each other. In this case, when Melissa's hand was submerged in the cold water, the heat from her burned hand was transferred to the water through direct contact. The cold water acted as a heat sink, absorbing the excess heat from her hand and lowering its temperature.
By transferring heat from her hand to the water, the cold water helped in cooling down the burned area. This rapid cooling helps in minimizing further damage to the skin cells and tissues. Additionally, cold temperatures can also help reduce pain and inflammation associated with burns.
So, putting her hand in a bowl of cold water reduced the severity of the burn because the cold water helped in transferring the heat away from her hand through conduction.