How come you are able to handle aluminium foil once it comes out of the oven, why is it that it doesn't retain heat well?
2007-08-02 05:16:01 · 3 answers · asked by determined_ladii 4 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Other - Science
Basically because it is thin.
The amount of heat that it needs to get rid of, to become cool enough to touch, is proportional to the total mass. The rate at which it can get rid of it is proportional to the total area. As the foil gets thinner, the mass gets less, while the area stays the same. At a certain thin-ness, the speed of cooling is only a second or two. If the foil was twice as thick, it would take twice as long; if four times as thick, four times as long; and so on. Eventually, there is some thickness at which it would stay too hot to handle for a noticeable time, but standard gauge foil is way way too thin for that.
2007-08-02 06:21:19 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 0⤋
it is due to the fact that aluminum is an exceptionally conductive metal (for heat) and because of the very thin sheets that expose a high percentage of the material to the surrounding air.
2007-08-02 12:22:41 · answer #2 · answered by gfulton57 4 · 4⤊ 0⤋
it is due to the fact that aluminum is an exceptionally conductive metal (for heat) and because of the very thin sheets that expose a high percentage of the material to the surrounding air.
2007-08-02 12:25:36 · answer #3 · answered by Ronnie 1 · 2⤊ 3⤋