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Outside temperature vs. body temperature
Name: Eureka High School
Location: N/A
Country: N/A
Date: N/A
Question:
A human's body temperature is about 37 degrees C. On a hot summer day, when
the air temperature is 33 degrees C, why does it feel warm to us when we are hotter on
the inside than the outside?
Replies:
Several reasons. One is that sunshine warms the skin directly. Another is
that the brain tells you to feel warm or cold not just based on the temperature
difference between your body and the air, but based on special cells in the skin
that signal the brain what the temperature is. The responses of these cells is not
just based on skin temperature and air temperature, but in part on a prediction of
your body's need to start behaviors that will help it get rid of heat building up
inside. So when it's 33C outside, it is difficult for you to get rid of heat fast
enough, even though the body is warmer than the air, so your brain tells you to feel
hot, and to sweat, etc, etc.
--ProfBill
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Update: June 2012
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