In a room there are two completely identical metal balls. One is lying on a table and the other is hanging on a cable attached to the ceiling. At the same moment, 1 Joule of heat energy is applied to each of them. Immediately after that, the balls are perfectly insulated, such that absolutely no heat transfer is possible.
Which one is the coldest?

(In reply to Height? by brianjn)

All I can say is rephrasing the problem.
1. Are the balls at the same height above the ... floor... ground? 
They are absolutely identical (Well, before the heat is applied of course), same volume, material, if you want identical height: OK then.

And does that matter?
I posted the problem, I am not going to solve it  ;)

2.  Does the cable to which the suspended ball is attached conduct?
The problem says: Immediately after that, the balls are perfectly insulated, such that absolutely no heat transfer is possible (not to the cable or not to the table or not to the surrounding atmosphere)

Posted by Hugo on 2005-04-05 15:41:31