What material changes temperature fast?

[kolleamm]

What sort of materials or elements heat up really fast but also cool down fast as well?

Thanks in advance

 

[bigfooted]

Materials with a low heat capacity per unit volume (specific heat):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_capacity

so in general: metals.

here is a list that you can sort on specific heat, so the heat needed to increase the temperature of 1kg of material by 1K.
http://periodictable.com/Properties/A/SpecificHeat.v.html

 

[kolleamm]

Materials with a low heat capacity per unit volume (specific heat):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_capacity

so in general: metals.

here is a list that you can sort on specific heat, so the heat needed to increase the temperature of 1kg of material by 1K.
http://periodictable.com/Properties/A/SpecificHeat.v.html

Great! I had no idea, thank a lot!

 

[Chestermiller]

Materials with high thermal diffusivity: thermal conductivity divided by (density x heat capacity).

 

[bigfooted]

@Chestermiller is correct. I was incomplete in my answer.

Just to clarify: a low heat capacity means you only need a little heat to increase the temperature [say by 1 Kelvin], and a high thermal conductivity means that this heat is 'absorbed' by the material fast.

 

[kolleamm]

@Chestermiller is correct. I was incomplete in my answer.

Just to clarify: a low heat capacity means you only need a little heat to increase the temperature [say by 1 Kelvin], and a high thermal conductivity means that this heat is 'absorbed' by the material fast.

What about the cooling down?

 

[Chestermiller]

What about the cooling down?

Same, of course.

 

[Helios]

Wiki says: Diamond is renowned for its superlative properties ... In particular, it has the highest hardness and thermal conductivity of any bulk material.

 

[Chestermiller]

Wiki says: Diamond is renowned for its superlative properties ... In particular, it has the highest hardness and thermal conductivity of any bulk material.

What about its thermal diffusivity? How does that compare?

 

[Baluncore]

What sort of materials or elements heat up really fast but also cool down fast as well?

It depends on how you heat and how you cool the material. Is it by radiation, convection or thermal conduction?
What shape is the material? A fine sheet of mesh will heat and cool very rapidly. It would be easier to make a mesh from carbon fibre than diamond.