Protect from the cold
Nível de ensino
Families
Area of Interest
Meteorology | Chemistry | Physics
Ciência Viva em Casa
Cozinha
Keywords
chemistry | physics | temperature
Duration
60 min
Typology
Experimental protocol
When walking barefoot on a wooden floor, we feel that it is hotter than a stone floor. Foot and stone exchange heat much more quickly than foot and wood because wood is a bad conductor of heat. Bad heat conductors are called thermal insulators. Finding the right material for a specific use is an important task, such as choosing a tiled floor for a beach house, or the right clothes for that season. For this we compare these materials according to their thermal conductivity. Since the thermal conductivity of the air is very low, we can say that the heat hardly propagates through the air, by conduction. Air is a bad conductor of heat. Aluminium and other metals are good thermal conductors, meaning that heat spreads through them very quickly. They have high thermal conductivity.
This activity comes under the program #cienciavivaathome. From the kitchen to the bathroom, even walking through the garage, no room was left out: after all, science is everywhere!
