Thermal comfort

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Hi! I'm Mari. I majored in chemistry, minored in applied math, and almost minored in music. There's so much out there about math, music, and science that I decided to start this blog to list what I've found.

By mari , 14 December, 2014
Diagram of thermal processes in a person

One of my friends who lives in Florida complained that it was cold there now. She said it was 68 degrees. Earlier this month, the temperature had been averaging in the 80's. I had gone running the morning she complained and thought 20 degrees was warm. Where I live, we had been experiencing single digit temperatures. So what the heck is going on?

Simply put, the body adapts to the environment's temperature. According to Wikipedia,

In a cold environment the body utilizes vasoconstriction; which reduces blood flow to the skin, skin temperature and heat dissipation. In a warm environment, vasodilation will increase blood flow to the skin, heat transport, and skin temperature and heat dissipation.

So my friend is vasodilated: her bloodflow to the surface of her skin is increased to allow the heat to dissipate and thus keep her cool. I'm vasocontricted which means my bloodflow is reduced to the skin's surface in order to prevent heat from dissipating which thus conserves the heat within me. Until our bodies adjust to our environments, we'll both feel cold or warm depending upon the upward or downward direction of the change in temperature.

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