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Further Investigations

• Mix warm and cold water until the mixture feels the same temperature as the air. Then measure the temperature of the air and the water. Which one is warmer? Explain the difference between feeling and measuring the temperature of the water.
  
  
• How sensitive is your sense of temperature? Using warm and cool tapwater, mix two cups of water that are slightly different temperatures. Have one team member switch them around and see if the other team member can tell which one is warmer. Then make the temperature difference smaller and smaller. What is the smallest difference such that you can still tell which one is warmer?
  
  
• Fool your fingers. Make three pitchers of water - one hot, one cold, and one medium. Put one hand in the hot water and one in the cold. Wait for one minute. Put both hands in the medium water. Does it feel the same to both hands? Measure the three pitchers with the temperature sensor. Can you explain what is going on?
  
  
• Test cooling by evaporation. Put your finger in water to make it wet. Then take it out and wave it around. Does it feel cooler? Do the same thing with the temperature sensor: dip it in water, then take it out and wave it around. Does the temperature drop? Why do you think this happens?
  
  
• With your finger, touch several materials that have been sitting in the classroom for a while: wood, plastic, metal, glass. Do they all feel the same temperature? Then measure each one with the temperature sensor. Use tape, and not your fingers, to hold the sensor against the material. Do the materials measure the same temperature? What do you think is going on?