Q. What are the worst conductors of heat?
A. All light and porous bodies, such as hair, fur, wool, charcoal, and so on.
Q. Why are cooking vessels so often furnished with wooden handles?
A. Wood is not a good conductor, like metal; and, therefore, many vessels (which are exposed to the heat of the fire) have wooden handles, lest they should burn our hands when we take hold of them.
Q. Why is the handle of a metal tea-pot made of wood?
A. As wood is a bad conductor, the heat of the boiling water is not so quickly conveyed to the wooden handle, nor so quickly poured into the hand by it, as when the handle is made of metal.
Q. Why would a metal handle burn the hand of the tea-maker?
A. As metal is an excellent conductor, the heat of the boiling water rushes quickly into the metal handle, and into the hand that touches it.
Q. How do you know that a metal handle would be hotter than a wooden one?