A metal pan with a wooden handle

About this video

Look at a saucepan on a stove. The pan is metal, but its handle is often wood. Why not make the whole pan out of one material?

A spoon is an object, and the stuff it is made of is its material: steel, wood or plastic. Every material has its own properties, the things you can notice or test about it. Is it hard or soft, bendy or stiff, shiny or dull? Can you see through it? Does it let heat through quickly? Does a magnet stick to it? Does it float?

Heat one end of a metal rod and a wooden rod, and the heat runs along the metal quickly, while the wood stays cool. That is the answer to the saucepan: metal lets heat through from the flame to the food, and wood does not, so the handle stays cool enough to hold.

The magnet test surprises many people. A magnet sticks to iron and steel, but not to every metal: it doesn't stick to an aluminium can, a gold ring or most coins.

Choosing a material means asking which properties the job needs: metal for the pan, wood for the handle, glass for the window, because glass is see-through and keeps the rain out. A paper pan would burn, and a metal handle would burn your hand.

Transcript

1. 0:00Why is a saucepan made of metal, but its handle of wood?
2. 0:09Heat one end. Heat runs along the metal fast. The wood stays cool. That is why the pan is metal and the handle is wood.
3. 0:19Does a magnet stick to every metal? To a steel spoon, yes. To a can, a gold ring or a coin, no.
4. 0:28Each job needs the right properties. Metal, wood, glass.
5. 0:35Every material has its own properties.