Question

Which of these actions would increase heat transfer between two objects?

establishing their thermal equilibrium
increasing the area of their contact
using objects with similar specific heats
reducing the time of their contact

Answer 1

Only "increasing the area of their contact."

Reasons:
- Increasing contact area increases conductive heat flow (heat transfer rate ∝ area).
- Establishing thermal equilibrium stops net heat transfer.
- Using objects with similar specific heats does not generally increase the heat exchanged (specific heat affects how much temperature changes for a given heat, not the heat-transfer rate).
- Reducing the contact time reduces the total heat transferred.