n8 Common Science 



called conducted heat. Anything like iron, that lets 

 the heat travel through it quickly, is called a good 

 conductor of heat. Anything like glass, that allows the 

 heat to travel through it only with difficulty, is called a 

 poor conductor of heat, or an insulator of heat. 



A silver spoon used for stirring anything that is cook- 

 ing gets so hot all the way up the handle that you can 

 hardly hold it, while the handle of a wooden spoon never 

 gets hot. Pancake turners usually have wooden handles. 

 Metals are good conductors of heat ; wood is a poor 

 conductor. 



An even more obvious example of the conducting 

 of heat is seen in a stove lid ; your fire is under it, yet 

 the top gets so hot that you can cook on it. 



When anything feels hot to the touch, it is because 

 heat is being conducted to and through your skin to 

 the sensitive little nerve ends just inside. But when 

 anything feels cold, it is because heat is being conducted 

 away from your skin into the cold object. 



Air carries heat by convection. One of the poorest 

 conductors of heat is air ; that is, one particle of air 

 can hardly give any of its heat to the next particle. 

 But particles of air move around very easily and carry 

 their heat with them ; and they can give the heat they 

 carry with them to any solid thing they bump into. 

 So when air can move around, the part that is next to 

 the stove, for instance, becomes hot; this hot air is 

 pushed up and away by cold air, and carries its heat 

 with it. When it comes over to you in another part 

 of the room, some of its heat is conducted to your 

 body. When air currents - or water currents, which 



