Question

A pie is cooked in an oven at 200 °C. The aluminium film that covered the pie can be touched soon after it is removed while the pie is still dangerously hot, explain this.

Answer 1

The aluminum film can be touched sooner than the hot pie due to aluminum's high thermal conductivity and low specific heat capacity, allowing it to release heat rapidly while the water in the pie retains heat longer.

Step-by-step explanation:

The reason you can touch the aluminum film soon after it is removed from the oven, while the pie is still dangerously hot, relates to the properties of heat transfer and the specific heat capacities of different materials.

Aluminum has a high thermal conductivity, which means it can transfer heat away from your fingers quickly, leading to a cooling effect. Its low specific heat capacity also allows it to release its heat rapidly. In contrast, the pie contains water which has a high specific heat capacity, meaning it retains heat longer and stays hot.

Even though both the aluminum film and pie were at the same temperature of 200 °C in the oven, the aluminum loses heat quickly to the environment and to any cooler object it touches, such as fingers, making it safe to touch sooner than the pie itself.