Two 5 inch blocks, of different materials have been sitting inside a sauna room

Question

Two 5 inch blocks, of different materials have been sitting inside a sauna room at 80 degree C for a long time. One block is made out of Oak wood and the other is made out of Aluminum 2024-T6. You can assume that the properties of these materials are the ones presented in the tables at 300 K. Right after entering to the room a person that has a skin temperature of 37 degree C touches the 2 materials. Which of the 2 materials will feel colder to the touch. What will be the equilibrium temperature at the surface of contact between the skin and block for each material?

Explanation / Answer

The aluminium has higher heat transfer coefficient than wood, that means more energy will be transferred to the skinin short time by touching the Al. Hence the Al block will feel hotter.

Equilibrium means no temperature difference between any two objects inside the room. Thus the equilibrium skin temperature will be same as room temperature, i.e. 80 degree C.

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