this post was submitted on 04 Jul 2023
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How would be the feeling of putting your hand inside a liquid that's 100% incapable of transferring heat? (self.asklemmy)
submitted 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) by Quills to c/[email protected]
26 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

This question studdenly appeared in my mind, A hypothetical liquid that is completely incapable of transferring (consequentially holding too, right?) Any heat in any way, how would it feel to touch it? We feel cold when heat gets out of our body and hot when it gets in right? Would it just feel perfectly neutral?

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[–] [email protected] 28 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 children)

The feeling of hot or cold is actually just the feeling of heat energy entering/leaving your skin.

The basics: if something is cold, energy is moving from your hand into the cold thing. If something is hot, energy is moving into your hand from the hot thing.

If it cannot transfer energy at all, then it doesn’t feel hot or cold. Like when you take a shower at the perfect temperature where the water temp matches your skin exactly, and it doesn’t feel like anything. Or a very warm pool.

Your hand would overheat a little bit eventually because your body creates internal energy through being alive, which it radiates away through your skin to the surrounding air to maintain equilibrium. If your hand lost that ability, it would get a bit warmer internally. But your blood would maintain approximate temperature equilibrium, so it wouldn’t be too bad.

If you were in a pool of the stuff, you’d eventually cook yourself.

Source: got a physics degree a bunch of years ago and kinda remember some things. But I’m not 100% confident of any of this

[–] Quills 4 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

Ooh, that makes a lot of sense! Asking this here was definitely worth it thank you!

To y'all alse there too!

[–] [email protected] 12 points 2 years ago

What you're describing is a perfect thermal insulator.

What does it feel like when you're wrapped in blankets? You feel warm, despite the blankets generating no heat of their own. They do this by insulating you from the outside temperature.

It would feel like being wrapped in a warm blanket, and if you were fully submerged, you'd end up overheating as we're constantly generating heat that we need to get rid of.

[–] SplatterGasp 4 points 2 years ago (3 children)

I can only partially answer this. Humans cannot sense moisture on the skin, only temperature and tactile (e.g. something on the skin, or moving along the skin like a droplet)

Something that cannot transfer heat would, I assume, feel not like putting a hand in water, but rather something....else?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Like putting your hand in a vacuum chamber, probably.

[–] Quills 1 points 2 years ago

Oh yeah, that'd make sense

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 years ago

You don't feel a temperature. You feel an energy/heat transfer.

When you touch something cold, it's cold because when you touch it, there is a transfert of heat from your hands to the cold object.

If you touch something hot, it's hot because there is a transfer of heat from the object to your hands.

In a hot room, it's a transfer of heat from the air to you.

But there is something more too.

You generate heat. If you were in a room with exactly the temperature of your skin, it will feel hot, because the heat you generate cannot dissipate in the air.

Now let's say you touch the liquid which has no energy transfer capabilities. In such way, well, you wouldn't be able to touch it.

But say we could. Your hands won't feel immediately any heat/cold because there cannot be any energy/heat transfer. However, as you generate heat, your hands will start to get hotter and hotter has the heat cannot be dissipated around, even if your body will try to compensate though other parts of the body. It's like putting your hands in a glove.

[–] Quills 1 points 2 years ago

Ooh, interesting

Thank you!

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 years ago

Answered in other comments, just to not spam my answer.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 years ago (2 children)

Okay, this is my undocumented, your average Joe type of guess, but here goes: as there is no heat exchange with its environment, I assume your hand would burn from its own heat.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 years ago

If it was just your hand, your circulation would keep moving that excess heat out and into the rest of you, which would radiate most of it out like normal.

It's a different story if you're submerged far enough that there is not enough of you still exposed to discharge that heat.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 years ago

Burn, probably not. After all we can dip our hands in hot water for hours and feel fine. Bloodflow would take away a large part of this heat.

If you were to dip yourself in such a liquid, you would probably risk hyperthermia really quick though.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 years ago

Like putting it in liquid that is at exactly your body temperature.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 2 years ago (2 children)

I would assume you'd feel the temperature, though your hand would not change the liquids temperature. Think about walking into a hot room, you feel the heat.

If you were drifting through the vacuum of space without a spacesuit, would you not freeze? Not sure if this comparison works though.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

This wouldn't happen because you don't feel a temperature. You feel an energy/heat transfer.

When you touch something cold, it's cold because when you touch it, there is a transfert of heat from your hands to the cold object.

If you touch something hot, it's hot because there is a transfer of heat from the object to your hands.

In a hot room, it's a transfer of heat from the air to you.

But there is something more too.

You generate heat. If you were in a room with exactly the temperature of your skin, it will feel hot, because the heat you generate cannot dissipate in the air.

Now let's say you touch the liquid which has no energy transfer capabilities. In such way, well, you wouldn't be able to touch it.

But say we could. Your hands won't feel immediately any heat/cold because there cannot be any energy/heat transfer. However, as you generate heat, your hands will start to get hotter and hotter has the heat cannot be dissipated around, even if your body will try to compensate though other parts of the body. It's like putting your hands in a glove.

Also remove your other duplicate comments.

[–] Quills 1 points 2 years ago

It feels cold in space? Thought the thing there was more bout the lack of pressure and things like that

[–] [email protected] -2 points 2 years ago (1 children)

I would assume you'd feel the temperature, though your hand would not change the liquids temperature. Think about walking into a hot room, you feel the heat.

If you were drifting through the vacuum of space without a spacesuit, would you not freeze? Not sure if this comparison works though.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 years ago

The sensation of heat/cold is actually your body either absorbing of releasing heat energy. When you touch an ice cube, the sensation of cold on your skin is not caused by the ice cube transferring coldness, but rather it is robbing your skin of heat energy which you perceive as cold.

A substance incapable of heat transfer would feel like the exact same temperature as your skin, regardless of how much heat energy it is currently holding.

[–] [email protected] -5 points 2 years ago

I would assume you'd feel the temperature, though your hand would not change the liquids temperature. Think about walking into a hot room, you feel the heat.

If you were drifting through the vacuum of space without a spacesuit, would you not freeze? Not sure if this comparison works though.

[–] [email protected] -5 points 2 years ago

I would assume you'd feel the temperature, though your hand would not change the liquids temperature. Think about walking into a hot room, you feel the heat.

If you were drifting through the vacuum of space without a spacesuit, would you not freeze? Not sure if this comparison works though.

[–] [email protected] -5 points 2 years ago

I would assume you'd feel the temperature, though your hand would not change the liquids temperature. Think about walking into a hot room, you feel the heat.

If you were drifting through the vacuum of space without a spacesuit, would you not freeze? Not sure if this comparison works though.

[–] [email protected] -5 points 2 years ago

I would assume you'd feel the temperature, though your hand would not change the liquids temperature. Think about walking into a hot room, you feel the heat.

If you were drifting through the vacuum of space without a spacesuit, would you not freeze? Not sure if this comparison works though.

[–] [email protected] -5 points 2 years ago

I would assume you'd feel the temperature, though your hand would not change the liquids temperature. Think about walking into a hot room, you feel the heat.

If you were drifting through the vacuum of space without a spacesuit, would you not freeze? Not sure if this comparison works though.

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