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.

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Answer 1

The metal spoon felt hot because metal is a good **conductor** of heat. When the spoon was left in the hot soup, it absorbed the heat from the soup. Since metals efficiently transfer heat, the temperature of the spoon quickly rose to a level that made it feel hot to the touch.

In contrast, a wooden spoon left in hot soup would not feel warm. Wood is an excellent **insulator** of heat, meaning it does not transfer heat well. As a result, even if the wooden spoon is submerged in hot soup, it would not absorb sufficient heat to become warm like the metal spoon.

Thus, the difference in temperature sensation between the two types of spoons is primarily due to the **conductive** properties of metal versus the **insulating** qualities of wood.