How does moving air, such as from a fan or a breeze, cool our bodies down on a hot day?

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How does moving air, such as from a fan or a breeze, cool our bodies down on a hot day?

In: Physics

2 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

The movement of air helps sweat evaporate from our skin, it’s this that has a much greater cooling effect then the air alone.

If humidity is too high then sweat won’t evaporate properly and you feel hotter even when the temperature isn’t very high.

Anonymous 0 Comments

As long as the temperature is significantly below body temps, ~90° or less, then the movement of the cooler air will pull heat from your body, cooling you off.

As the temperature approaches your body temps, that effect is lost, and it just begins to feel oppressive.

The other aspect of that movement is humidity. If the air is moving around, it will blow away the move humid air caused by evaporated sweat in favor of drier air that doesn’t have your sweat in it.