So my understanding is that heat is simply the speed/velocity and kinetic energy of molecules.
I can understand that the hotter something gets, the more excited and higher velocity/kinetic energy molecules have. it is natural for me to sort of grasp how letting your skin molecules come into contact with that, it strips away your skins molecules and you get burned.
but what i dont understand is: Cold is supposed to be the opposite and molecules more or less at rest mean low temperatures.
How can stable/resting molecules hurt us when its not actively stripping away skin molecules etc?
In: Chemistry
There’s a few contributing factors:
1. Especially with endothermic animals like us, proteins and hormones have an ideal temperature range in which they act. When too hot or two cold, those compounds work less effectively. Ever wonder why our testicles are dangling around inside a scrotum instead of protected within the body? It’s because the proteins responsible for sperm production work best a little bit below body temperature and cause faulty cell division otherwise. Likewise, muscle cells, such as the ones in your heart, won’t function properly because they rely on energetic particles within their structure in order to contract.
2. Below the freezing temperature of water, ice crystals begin to form. If they form inside your body’s tissues, the crystals will lacerate cell membranes, causing severe tissue damage. Frostbite, in other words.
Latest Answers