Q. Why does the conducting power of water make it feel colder than the air, though in reality it is warmer?
A. Because it abstracts heat from our hands so rapidly, that we feel its loss; but the air abstracts heat so very slowly, that its gradual loss is hardly perceptible.
Q. Is water a good conductor of heat?
A. No; no liquid is a good conductor of heat; but yet water is a much better conductor than air.
Q. Why is water a better conductor of heat than air?
A. Because it is less subtile; and the conducting power of any substance depends upon its solidity, or the closeness of its particles.
Q. How do you know that water is not a good conductor of heat?
A. Because water may be made to boil at its surface, without imparting sufficient heat to melt ice a quarter of an inch below the boiling surface.
Q. Why are not liquids good conductors of heat?