If the air is moving faster that means it has higher energy and is hotter, right? If it hits my skin with a higher velocity it is transferring more energy than if it were moving slower. Both of these reasons suggest faster winds should feel hotter but they don’t, the stronger the breeze the cooler it feels. Why?
In: Physics
Temperature wise, wind is technically warmer than still air, but almost imperceptibly so. A very strong gust has something like 1.001x the amount of energy from motion compared to still air at room temperature.
However, what you feel on your skin isn’t really temperature. We can really only feel changes in temperature. For example, if you feel a metal object that conducts heat well, your hands cool quickly to pass the heat to the metal, and so your hands feel cold, compared to touching styrofoam.
Still air doesn’t dissipate heat that well, your hands are constantly surrounded by close to body temperature air from the heat you give off. When the wind blows, you’re exposed to the room temperature air, which is cooler than the air around you normally is. It also cools you down faster.
Latest Answers