system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
Can an object ever get hotter than the thing that’s heating it?

I had the hot water running on my kitchen sponge fit a couple minutes and it got really hot and got me thinking - is it possible?

Object A is a heat source heating up Object B. Under constant heat can Object B ever end up hotter than object A?




Edit: thank you so much for all the answers. I had no idea there were so many solutions or that this question would be of interest to so many intelligent and educated individuals. I really didn’t think this would get so much attention.
gpt
So, temperature is defined by which way heat energy flows. AKA- if object 1 is a higher temperature than object 2, than heat energy will flow from object 1 to object 2. So, by the very definition of temperature, an object can never be heated up to a higher temperature than the object heating it. 

However, temperature is not necessarily what makes something "feel" hot. If an object is really hot, but has a really low thermal conductivity (which is a measure of how fast something transfers heat), then you can touch it, and it won't "feel" hot, because very little heat will flow into you. You have likely noticed this, comparing air and water. For instance, being in 70 F air is comfortable, but being in 70 F water is really cold. Why? Because water has a much higher thermal conductivity than air, so a lot more heat leaves your 98 degree body into 70 degree water than 70 degree air. Heat flowing out of you is what feels "cold." Same the other way, being in 120 F air is uncomfortable warm, being in 120 F water is absolutely terrible and you can't survive it long. It feels "hot" because a lot of heat is flowing "into" you.