Inside a house, stepping on a tile floor barefooted may feel almost cold, but stepping on carpet in an adjacent room feels comfortably warm. Why is this?
This is primarily due to the difference in the thermal conductivities of the materials used in tiling and carpeting.
Tile flooring is usually made of materials such as ceramic, porcelain, or stone, which have high thermal conductivity. This means that they can quickly absorb and transfer heat away from your body, making them feel cold to the touch. So, when you step on a tile floor barefoot, heat from your body is rapidly transferred to the tile, causing the sensation of coldness.
On the other hand, carpet is typically made of thick, insulating fibers that have low thermal conductivity. These fibers trap air pockets within the carpet, creating an insulating barrier. When you step on carpet, the insulation helps to retain heat, reducing the rate at which heat is transferred from your body to the flooring. Consequently, the carpet feels warmer and more comfortable compared to the tile floor.
The thermal conductivity difference between tile and carpet is why the tile floor feels cold and the carpeted room feels warm, even though they are in the same house with the same ambient temperature.