Science question about pizza (heat transfer)

when you eat a slice of pizza, the crust is often less hot than the toppings and sauce. why does this occur?
i know that heat goes from hot to cold, but doesn't it try to balence it out so everything is the same temperature? thanks

when you eat a slice of pizza, the crust is often less hot than the toppings and sauce. why does this occur?
i know that heat goes from hot to cold, but doesn't it try to balence it out so everything is the same temperature? thanks


Look at the heat capacity values in the table at the website below.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_capaci…

Water has a high heat capacity. The sauce and toppings contain water and different oils. The bottom surface of the crust is dry. The temperature of the crust, sauce, and toppings is the same when the pizza is removed from the oven. As the pizza is carried to the table, the heat energy is transferred from the high temperature pizza to the lower temperature air.

Water and oil have high heat capacity, so a large quantity of heat energy must be transferred to the air to lower the temperature of the sauce and toppings. At the pizza is carried to the table, the temperature of the sauce and toppings decreases much less than the temperature of the crust. When the pizza reaches the table, the temperature of the sauce and toppings is higher than the temperature of the crust.

Reason 1. The toppings and sauce on a pizza contain a lot of water and fats. Water retains heat very well(think hot water bottle). Fats can be heated above 100degC. The pastry however is not very moist or fatty so it cools down faster so be patient and let your pizza cool down a bit before you bite into it. One acquaintance bit into a cheeseburger and spent the rest of the week in hospital with a severely burnt mouth!

because the toppings are more dense than the crust. And also the amount of toppings will make a difference because each one has a specific heat capacity and as there is more toppings more heat is shared.