So long as there is magnetic material within range of the coils on an inductive cooktop that material is what gets hot (directly above the coil; coil diameters are a whole 'nother subject). Unlike non-induction there isn't a lot of 'waste' heat coming up around the sides of the pan/pot. Probably a don't-care for pots with liquid in them as convection moves a *lot* more heat than conduction (particularly in single-layer stainless). For a pan, there'll be a fairly sharp heat boundary from where the disc ends.