Final answer:
Substances with a low specific heat capacity absorb and radiate heat quickly, while substances like water with a high specific heat capacity take more energy to change temperature and do so more slowly.
Step-by-step explanation:
Substances that absorb and radiate heat quickly have a low specific heat capacity. Specific heat capacity is the amount of energy required to raise the temperature of 1 gram of the substance by 1°C. The lower a substance's specific heat capacity, the less energy it takes to change its temperature, causing it to heat up and cool down more rapidly compared to substances with higher specific heat capacities.
Water, for example, has a very high specific heat capacity, meaning it takes more energy to change its temperature; hence, water heats up and cools down slowly. Metals, in contrast, often have much lower specific heat capacities, which is why a metal chair in the sun can become very hot quickly.