Is water a good conductor of heat?
No, water is a bad conductor of heat. Simple Experiment to Show that: Sink a small cube of ice in a boiling tube of water by placing a coil of wire over it. Heat the top of the water with the flame of a Bunsen. A ‘heat shield’ of tin foil can be used to stop heat radiation. Note that the water at the top boils but the ice cube is not melting any faster. There is a difference of 100°C in the temperature over just a short distance. Therefore water is a bad conductor of heat.
Pure water is a bad thermal (heat) conductor, because it has one of the highest known specific heats. Specific heat says how much heat it takes to raise the temperature of a certain amount of something. It also says how quickly it can lose heat and temperature. Good thermal conductors (most metals) have a low specific heat, meaning they easily transfer heat because they easily gain heat in a hot area, and lose it quickly in a cool one. For instance, on small islands, the climate is moderated by the ocean temperature. Even though it’s salt water, the ocean is still mostly water, so it takes a while to heat and cool. So the land surrounded by it takes on temperatures similar to the ocean, because the ocean can take alot of energy without heating up, and lose alot without cooling off. Water, however, is good for dissipating energy without changing temperature, it can handle alot of heat before it changes its temperature. It also has a high heat of vaporization, meaning it takes alot of he
Anyone who said it was a good conductor of heat was wrong. Water is an awful conductor of heat. Why do you think people go swimming on a hot day? Becasue the water temperature is cooler than the surrounding air temperature. It disperses heat so readily making it a terrible conductor of heat. One method of conducting heat is a resistance to movement. For example take a piece of flexible metal and begin to bend it back and forth. It will grow hot because it is a metal and doesn’t like to be bent, however water being a liquid doesn’t resist movement at all so it doesn’t readily conduct heat.
