Why do metals feel cold to touch even when they are at room temperature?

You must have observed that when you touch metallic objects like aluminum or iron it feels cooler than non-metallic objects like wood or plastic. So, why do metals feel cold to touch even when they are at room temperature.

Do metallic objects have less temperature?

No, both metallic and non-metallic objects have the same temperature.

What?  Really?

Yes, both of the objects have the same temperature because two objects in contact always want to be in a state of thermal equilibrium.

And, when you touch the metal you feel that it is cold because of thermal equilibrium again.

Yeah I know you are a bit confused and you have some questions in your curious mind like:-

 

What is thermal equilibrium?

Why do two objects which feel different have the same temperature?

And, Why do two objects having the same temperature feel different?

Let's first understand equilibrium and then we'll move to another question.

Thermal equilibrium is a state in which two objects in contact have the same temperature.

If two objects, one with more temperature are in contact with each other then heat energy will start getting a transfer from the object having more temperature to the object having less temperature till both the objects have the same temperature.

Due to this an object either it is metallic or non-metallic has the same temperature because both of them are in contact with the air around it and the temperature of the air is the same in a room or is kept at a few distances where the air has almost the same temperature.

Therefore if you'll place two objects one metallic and the other non-metallic in your room, both will attain the same temperature after a few minutes because they are in contact with the air, and air at the same place has the same temperature.

So, now you got why two objects either metallic on-m the same temperature.

But you also have another question in your mind why does a piece of metal generally feel cooler to the touch than a piece of wood.

Well, the fact is that we cannot feel the temperature of any object using our hands. When we touch anything we sense the temperature of our finger which is in contact with the given object.

  

So if the temperature of our finger is more than both objects  (generally in the winter season) then metallic objects will feel cooler than non-metallic objects because when we touch metallic objects, due to the high thermal conductivity of metallic objects the heat of our hand gets transferred to the object so we sense the change in temperature of an object from high to low. 

So our brain perceives that object is colder as the finger felt cold after touching it. But when we touch non-metallic objects like wood or plastic, due to their low thermal conductivity compared to metallic ones the heat from our hand travels slower as compared to the metallic objects so it feels less cool than metallic objects.

And if the temperature of our finger is less than both objects  (generally in summer season) then metallic object feels hotter than non-metallic object because in this case heat transfers from the given object to our finger and our finger senses temperature increasing from low to high.

Watch Derek Muller (Veritasium) explaining the same concept experimentally.

Hope you enjoyed learning this amazing concept with us. Shock your friends by showing this.

And if you have any queries ask in the comment section. Consider sharing this article with your friends and whoever you know is interested in physics and these types of questions.

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