Re: Is aluminum or iron a better conductor of heat?

If aluminum is a better heat conductor than iron, then aluminum would transfer 
heat better than iron.  It may be the reference for iron being better applied 
to a specific circumstance.

Not being particularly familiar with the differences between aluminum and iron, 
I can think of one instance were it might be said iron is better than aluminum 
in transferring heat.  That would be when comparing cooking pots.  Aluminum 
transfers heat so much better than iron, the entire pot would become more 
uniformly heated than would an iron pot.  Thus, the sides of the aluminum pot 
become involved in transferring heat to the air faster than for an iron pot.  
It could then be said more of the heat applied to the bottom of the iron pot 
gets to the contents of the pot because less heat is lost out the sides of the 
pot than is the case for aluminum.

As for references, the best that come to mind are university heat transfer 
textbooks.  Though, understanding how cooking pots pertain to the argument 
might best be achieved by being familiar with heating rates of similarly sized 
iron and aluminum pots.

Thanks for your question.

sid