Why does metal feel colder than wood on a cold day?

Answer 1

It conducts the heat away from your hand faster when you touch it so your hand feels colder. If you put a thermometer on metal and wood they would really be the same temperature. Try touching a piece of foam insulation that has been out in the cold all night - it will start to feel warm from the warmth of your hand.

Answer 2

1

Answer 3

Heat travels from hot to cold. Metal is a much better conductor of heat than wood, so metal feels colder when you touch it than wood does.

Answer 4

Metal is good conductor of both heat and cold, whereas wood is an insulator. It doesn't conduct either heat or electricity. Hence any of the metals would feel much colder or hotter when compared to insulators.

Answer 5

look, i will explain it 2 u in simpler words---

metals are good conductors of electricity. thus it will take in heat rapidly when it will be supplied with it and when a warmer body(your hand) is touched to it , it will take heat rapidly .
wood being a bad conductor will not do so.
hence when a lotta heat flows out of ur hands in just a shorter time u tend to feel colder
all right?
there is no other factor---like
If you put a thermometer on metal and wood they would really be the same temperature

Answer 6

boss metal is a good conductor of heat than wood so on a cold day as heat is transfered to the outside metals do that faster than wood itself so u feel colder in metals than wood.

Answer 7

The specific heat of metal is more than that of wood. Metal is a good conductor of heat and wood is a bad conductor. Metal takes in and gives out more heat from atmosphere. So metal gets the temperature of surroundings . Wood does not give or take heat that way.

Answer 8

metal is good conductor of heat so the cold surrounding conduct away the heat from the metal faster than wood, hence, metal feel colder than wood on a cold day. ^-^ :)

Answer 9

This is a basic physics question. It has to do with the ability of the various substances to transfer heat/cold. Metal is a good conductor of heat; wood is not. (Early insulators were made of wood, both for electricity and heat insulation. In fact, when you buy insulation, the "R" value of insulation is based upon the equivalency of wood. An "R" value of 1 means it has the same insulating value as 1" of wood; R15 means it has the same insulating value as 15" of wood.) Because metal easily transfers heat, it feels cold when the weather is cold, and it feels hot when the weather is hot. (Or the room, etc. This is also why a cat loves to be on concrete on a sunny day in winter; the concrete, like metal, transfers heat. And, of course, it is also why concrete cracks...)

Answer 10

Materials have differing coefficients of thermal and electric conductivity. Metals' coefficients of thermal conductivity are rather high due to their density and the way the molecules bond to one another when compared to wood. Also, most metals would have much more mass in the immediate area of your touch than a piece of wood so there are more negative BTUs available to affect how you perceive the temperature of the surface of the object.