Shouldn't you get hotter as wind gets stronger?

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In summary, the conversation discusses the concept of friction and its effects on temperature. It is explained that while friction can generate heat, the loss of heat through convection and evaporation is greater. This is why individuals feel colder in windy conditions, even though they may not be sweating. The idea of testing this concept by wearing cellophane on a cold and windy day is mentioned, and it is noted that windbreakers work by blocking the wind's ability to remove heat through evaporation. The conversation also touches on the topic of thermal equilibrium and the heating effect of wind at high speeds.
  • #1
Nano-Passion
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Physics tells us that air molecules would cause friction which in turn would make an object hotter.

So why do I freeze my :smile::smile::smile: off in the cold when it starts getting windy (while I'm obviously not sweating).
 
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  • #2
Nano-Passion said:
Physics tells us that air molecules would cause friction which in turn would make an object hotter.

So why do I freeze my :smile::smile::smile: off in the cold when it starts getting windy (while I'm obviously not sweating).



Because despite any heat from friction, you loose more heat via convection and evaporation Your skin is always loosing heat to evaporative cooling, even at cool temperatures. Only during extreme humidity is evaporative cooling essentially reduced to zero. That's why humid weather feels much hotter than dry weather.
 
  • #3
I guess someone needs to go out on a cold day dressed in nothing but a thin layer of cellophane and see if it feels colder when the wind starts blowing. Intuition makes me think one would feel colder, even though the cellophane would stop evaporation, but could be wrong.
 
  • #4
bobze said:
Because despite any heat from friction, you loose more heat via convection and evaporation Your skin is always loosing heat to evaporative cooling, even at cool temperatures. Only during extreme humidity is evaporative cooling essentially reduced to zero. That's why humid weather feels much hotter than dry weather.
Hot humid air, yes. Cold humid air, no. In my mind there isn't much worse than a cold, windy, rainy day, say 40 F / 4 C. It cuts right through everything, even if you do manage to stay dry. That is just cold and miserable, much worse than is a nice clear, calm winter day with temperatures around 20 F / -6 C. Water is an incredible conductor of heat.
 
  • #5
venton said:
I guess someone needs to go out on a cold day dressed in nothing but a thin layer of cellophane and see if it feels colder when the wind starts blowing. Intuition makes me think one would feel colder, even though the cellophane would stop evaporation, but could be wrong.

You would still get conduction of heat from skin to air.

So, with cellophane, cold would still be cold, but adding wind would not make a lot of difference. I guess this is the principle by which windbreakers work. They're thin enough that they don't really prevent the loss of conduction, but they do stop the wind from removing heat by evaporation.
 
  • #6
The reason is because you are not in thermal equilibrium with the air before the wind started blowing. You are generating heat internallly and losing it by mainly by convection and evaporation (sweating), plus a small amount of radiation as well. If the heat generation and loss are equal, your temperature stays constant.

You are right in the sense that there is a significant heating effect at very high wind speeds. For supersonic aircraft there can be local temperature rises of the order of 100 degrees C, and much more than that when the space shuttle re-enters the atmosphere or meteors burn up in the atmosphere. But for normal ground-level wind speeds acting on humans, the increase in convection cooling rate is much bigger than the extra heat generated, so you get colder.
 

Related to Shouldn't you get hotter as wind gets stronger?

1. Why does wind feel cooler even though it is moving faster?

Wind feels cooler because it is drawing heat away from our bodies. As wind moves faster, it carries away more heat from our skin, making us feel cooler.

2. Shouldn't wind increase the temperature by adding more energy?

No, wind does not increase the temperature because it is not adding heat energy to the air. Wind is simply moving existing air molecules around, it does not create any new energy.

3. Why do we feel colder when the wind blows on a hot day?

The wind on a hot day can actually make us feel colder because it is carrying away the heat from our bodies at a faster rate. This makes our bodies lose heat more quickly, leading to a sensation of feeling colder.

4. Can wind be used to cool down a hot room?

Yes, wind can help cool down a hot room by increasing air circulation and carrying away heat from the room. However, this effect may be limited if the outside air temperature is also hot.

5. Does the speed of the wind affect its cooling ability?

Yes, the speed of the wind is directly related to its cooling ability. The faster the wind moves, the more heat it can carry away from our bodies, making us feel cooler. This is why a strong wind can feel much colder than a light breeze.

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