Heat Transfer - Conceptual Question When we touch an object that has a surface t

Question

Heat Transfer - Conceptual Question

When we touch an object that has a surface temperature much colder than our body temperature (which is essentially 37 degree C), heat flows from our body leading to the sensation of "cold to the touch". Consider a block of material taken from a freezer at 0 degree C - this block will behave as a semi-infinite medium for the initial transient response to our touch. Compare a block of ice and a block of copper and ignore all phase change effects. Can you assess which material "feels colder" initially

Explanation / Answer

copper will fel much colder as thermal conductivity of copper is much greater than ice. thermal conductivity of ice at 0'C is 2.22 W/mK where as thermal conductivity of copper in the range of 0-100 'C is approx 385 W/mK. so heat transfer rate in copper will be much more than ice and hence it will feel much colder

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