Why when we touch something that is very hot, our skin becomes red and starts hurting? What exactly happens to our cells when exposed to extreme heat?
And why does only heat over a certain temperature hurt us?
In: Biology
There’s a process called denaturing. When proteins are heated up, they untangle and lose their shape, which means they lose their function. This can also mean they react with other proteins and form a kind of polymer jelly (aggregate is the proper term, think of a block of ramen). Ultimately, it means that cells will die and our bodies have evolved a way to try and prevent that, since proteins make up everything from structural units to the engines which drive chemical processes to keep us alive.
As a visible example, it’s the process behind an egg turning white when fried. It becomes more of a solid and essentially destroyed compared to what it was.
Edit: as for the response to our bodies, it becomes red as blood vessels expand to get rid of the excess heat. It’s painful because we have certain nerves to detect high temperature, and it gets sore and inflamed as our bodies flood the area with immune system cells to try and stop infection and repair any damage.
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