Question

Betsy was stirring a pot of hot soup with a large, metal spoon. The phone rang, so she left the spoon in the soup to go answer it. When she came back, the spoon felt very hot.

Explain why the metal spoon felt hot. Would a wooden spoon left in hot soup feel warm too? Why or why not? Use the terms insulator and conductor in your response.

Answer 1

The metal spoon felt hot because metal is a good conductor of heat. When Betsy left the spoon in the hot soup, heat from the soup was transferred to the spoon. Since metal allows heat to flow through it easily, the heat quickly traveled up the spoon, making it feel hot to the touch.

In contrast, a wooden spoon left in hot soup would not feel warm, or at least not as hot as the metal spoon. Wood is a poor conductor of heat; it acts as an insulator. This means that it does not allow heat to pass through it easily. Therefore, even though the wooden spoon is in contact with the hot soup, it would not absorb heat as quickly or as effectively as the metal spoon. As a result, when Betsy returned, the wooden spoon would likely feel much cooler in comparison to the metal spoon.