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Question
Explain why a brass tumbler feels much colder than a wooden tray on a chilly day
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Solution 1
Brass is a good conductor of heat. When one touches a brass tumbler, heat is conducted from the body to the brass tumbler easily. Hence, the temperature of the body reduces to a lower value and one feels cooler.
Wood is a poor conductor of heat. When one touches a wooden tray, very little heat is conducted from the body to the wooden tray. Hence, there is only a negligible drop in the temperature of the body and one does not feel cool.
Thus, a brass tumbler feels colder than a wooden tray on a chilly day.
Solution 2
Brass is a good conductor of heat, while wood is a bad conductor. When we touch the brass tumbler on a chilly day, heat starts flowing from our body to the tumbler and we feel it cold. However, when the wooden tray is touched, heat does not flow from our hands to the tray and we do not feel cold.
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