thanks for posting that picture--it reminds me that i need to knit a robot already. (i currently am working on an afghan made out of fair trade handspun silk from indonesia, so a robot will be a nice change of pace.)
Metal isn't any colder than any other material (unless you've just pulled it out of a freezer or something.) It only feels cold because it conducts heat very well, and will therefore draw heat away from you when you touch it much more quickly than non-metallic objects would.
Metal isn't any colder than any other material (unless you've just pulled it out of a freezer or something.) It only feels cold because it conducts heat very well, and will therefore draw heat away from you when you touch it much more quickly than non-metallic objects would.
Really? I had the impression it was more because of the mass - meaning you have to expend lot of energy before you raise it to external body temp.
Silver conducts very well, does seem warmer to me than steel...
a) in my earlier comment, i was trying--and obviously failing--to be funny. as someone who frequently accidentally burns herself, i am well aware of metal's conductive properties.
b) recently the creator of metafilter commented that he has a master's degree in SCIENCE! and i just thought you all should know that.
Leesh, what kiiiind of afghan? We need to start another knitting thread. I made Glampyre's One Skein Wonder last week, and now I'm on a tiny sweater kick.
Hammy, my motivation for making sweaters is generally that I want to make them and then wear them, rather than that I want to stare at my own chest afterwards.
Really? I had the impression it was more because of the mass - meaning you have to expend lot of energy before you raise it to external body temp.
Silver conducts very well, does seem warmer to me than steel...
Both mass and conductivity are factors, since a small object would, of course, warm from room temperature to body temperature faster than a larger object. If the mass of the two objects is equal, though, the one with the higher conductivity will feel colder (unless both objects are warmed to above body temperature, in which case the one with higher conductivity will feel warmer.)
Have you ever actually touched a piece of pure silver as large as the pieces of pure or nearly pure iron you typically come into contact with?
Fun fact: It's this effect in reverse that allows people to walk on hot coals without being burned. Since the coals are made of a material with very low thermal conductivity, only the heat from the surface of the coal will be transferred into the person's foot in the time that they're standing on it. The surface of the coal is cooled by the foot more quickly than the heat from the inside of the coal can make its way outwards, so very little heat is actually transferred into the foot.
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Somebody link that crazy comic that had the full-action librarians. That was awesome.
http://www.shigabooks.com/
that's EXACTLY what librarians do.
Enforcing library rules with extreme prejudice!
THE MIND BOGGLES.
WITH AWESOMENESS.
thanks for posting that picture--it reminds me that i need to knit a robot already. (i currently am working on an afghan made out of fair trade handspun silk from indonesia, so a robot will be a nice change of pace.)
Silver conducts very well, does seem warmer to me than steel...
a) in my earlier comment, i was trying--and obviously failing--to be funny. as someone who frequently accidentally burns herself, i am well aware of metal's conductive properties.
b) recently the creator of metafilter commented that he has a master's degree in SCIENCE! and i just thought you all should know that.
I'm so sorry, Stef.
Tiny sweaters are sort-of a fashion disease. They're undersized scraps of sweater made to be worn over some other thing.
Witness:
I made that in red.
Have you ever actually touched a piece of pure silver as large as the pieces of pure or nearly pure iron you typically come into contact with?
Fun fact: It's this effect in reverse that allows people to walk on hot coals without being burned. Since the coals are made of a material with very low thermal conductivity, only the heat from the surface of the coal will be transferred into the person's foot in the time that they're standing on it. The surface of the coal is cooled by the foot more quickly than the heat from the inside of the coal can make its way outwards, so very little heat is actually transferred into the foot.
Does "fashionably warm" mean "not at all warm"?