Cold poor conductor water.?

Question

I know that water is poor conductor. However, if you put your hand onto poor conductor, you should feel warm. But the fact isn't that, water is cold. What I want to ask is why water is cold?
Is that because water absorb the latent heat of vaporization from your hand? Or it is because they are fluid?

Answer 1

I think you're confusing a poor conductor of electricity (which water is) with a poor conductor of heat (which water isn't, in particular). In addition, water has a very high heat capacity.

Answer 2

Paul B's answer above is good. To expand on it a bit, the ambient temerature of water will be a major determining factor on whether it feels warm or cold.

With any good thermal conductor, if it is hotter than body temperature, it will feel hot touch and will remain so. The energy transfer TO your hand will quickly equalise throughout the substance rather than just changing in the location where you are touching as it would if it were a poor conductor. If it is colder body temperature, energy will be transferred FROM your hand to the substance and will be rapidly conducted away - meaning your hand gets colder faster as more heat is being conducted away.

Answer 3

Apart from issues about how feelings (nerve sensations and perceptions) work, the answer you seek could be that heat transfer is largely by convection and not conduction in the particular instance you identify.