Good and Bad Conductors – Pot Handles

A pot of boiling water on a gas stove transfers heat along its 30 cm handle. The simulation solves the heat equation with each material’s real conductivity, density and specific heat, and includes surface heat loss to the air, showing why metals become hot quickly while insulators stay cool.

Students can select the handle material (copper, brass, ceramic, or wood), toggle the burner, and turn the particle‑animation view on or off. Temperature readings are displayed every 6 cm along the handle, and a graph plots the steady‑state temperature distribution for each material.

By experimenting, learners see how thermal conductivity, heat capacity and surface losses affect temperature gradients, reinforcing concepts of heat transfer and material properties in thermodynamics.