Why covering extremities in our bodies (especially our **feet for example, by wearing socks**) is so essential to warm our bodies.

Question

You can be properly dressed for the cold, with layers, but if you don’t wear socks you won’t warm up properly. Similarly, wearing gloves makes a huge difference to how warm you are outside as well.

What is it about covering extremities that is so essential?

In: Biology

Answer 1

Extremities have a high surface area to volume ratio, meaning there is less ‘stuff’ underneath every square centimeter of skin. Your skin radiates heat and the stuff underneath generates that heat so you lose a lot more heat from hands and feet than you do elsewhere.

Hands and feet also have high concentrations of sensory nerves so you feel things more intensely in those areas and will feel cold or hot there first.

So you lose heat most rapidly from the places that are most likely to notice a temperature difference.