A coin and a piece of glass are both heated to 60°C. Which will feel warmer when you touch it?

Physics - Damon, Sunday, December 1, 2013 at 7:32pm

coin has higher heat transfer, will heat your finger up faster.

Thanks a lot . God bless !:)

The coin will feel warmer when you touch it, even though both the coin and the glass are heated to the same temperature of 60°C. The perception of temperature is based on the rate at which heat is transferred from the object to your skin. Metal, like the coin, is a better conductor of heat compared to glass. When you touch the coin, the heat will quickly transfer from the coin to your skin, giving you a sensation of warmth. On the other hand, glass is a poor conductor of heat, so it will not transfer heat to your skin as efficiently. As a result, when you touch the glass, it will not feel as warm as the coin, even though they are both at the same temperature.

When you touch the coin and the piece of glass that have been heated to the same temperature of 60°C, the piece of glass will feel warmer than the coin. This is because different materials have different thermal conductivities, which means they transfer heat at different rates.

To understand why the glass feels warmer, we need to consider how heat is conducted and how our skin perceives temperature. When you touch an object, heat is transferred from the object to your skin. Objects with higher thermal conductivity transfer heat more efficiently, making them feel warmer to the touch.

While both the coin and the piece of glass were heated to the same temperature, glass has a higher thermal conductivity compared to metal (which coins are typically made of). This means that heat is transferred from the glass to your skin at a faster rate compared to the coin, making the glass feel warmer.

It's important to note that while the glass feels warmer, both objects are actually at the same temperature of 60°C. Our perception of temperature is influenced not only by the physical properties of an object, such as thermal conductivity, but also by factors like our sensitivity to heat and the rate of heat transfer.