Cookies, Oven Mitts and Thermal Conductivity

19 January 2010 | 12 Comments » | Greg Gorby

Yesterday, sitting at the kitchen table enjoying the last few bytes of a BLT on wheat I was having for lunch, I watched my wife remove another pan of cookies from the oven.

“Is that a new oven mitt?” I asked.
“The old one died”, she replied.

You may think of her reply as odd. I, however, am no longer surprised by her casual anthropomorphizing. Everything we own “lives” with us, and has its own distinct personality and lifespan.

“I understand”, I said with only the slightest hint of mockery. I began to think of all the things I’ve “lost” since our marriage began. Then, as is usually the case, the engineer in me pushed to the rescue. (I do, after all, have an excellent analytic mind.)

“With use the pads become compressed. The resulting increase in density raises the thermal conductivity. The pad becomes less efficient at slowing heat transfer. Did you notice the old mitt burning your hand?”

She turned to me, hot cookie tray in mitt protected hand. Her expression was of unveiled sympathy. Her eyes were doing the talking. They told me I didn’t have a clue.

“No, Dear”, she said, “It was just getting on in years.”

…Of course it was. She didn’t throw it away, she put it to rest.

If you, too, have an excellent analytic mind, and want to know more about how density relates to thermal conductivity, I recommend our paper on Thermal Diffusivity.

I’m going to have a cookie. I’ll need it. She’s gone to sweep the living room, and the sweeper hates her.

Greg Gorby, Editor
RefractoryBlog.com
Refractory Specialties, Inc.