This morning I touched the metal handle of my front door and flinched—it felt ice-cold despite the thermostat showing the same temperature inside and out. My neighbor saw me and laughed. "Metal's always colder, right?" She was repeating the misconception I used to believe myself.
The misconception: Different materials have different temperatures when they're in the same room. It feels true because metal feels colder than wood or plastic.
The reality: If two objects sit in the same space long enough, they reach thermal equilibrium—they're the same temperature. What differs is their thermal conductivity, the rate at which they transfer heat. Metal conducts heat roughly 1,000 times faster than wood. When you touch cold metal, it pulls heat from your skin rapidly. Your nerves detect that heat loss, not the object's temperature. Wood conducts poorly, so your skin stays warmer, and you perceive it as "warm."