why does 60 degree water feel freezing compared to 60 degree air?
In: Chemistry
Water ‘communicates’ temperature more than air due to having a higher ‘specific heat’. So as it takes more energy to get water to 60 (up or down) than air the same distance of degrees the same direction, we feel the heat in the product (water) more than we do the air.
There are more in depth explanations about how our heat, heats the air near us more and faster, than the water. This is still due to the waters specific heat in comparison to air.
The more humidity (water) in air, the more it holds heat. This is why we actually use ‘relative humidity’ when we talk about air being humid. Technically 100% real humidity would be under water, and 0% doesn’t happen much as there is always some water in the air. So we use relative humidity as it is what makes sense to us relatively, when talking about the air. As the most humid air we can experience isn’t 100%, so some of the scale would be wasted and thus making specific observations less accurate. Ie 50 options (20-70) vs 0-100% relative humidity.
There are better more sciencey explanations.
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