Why are you cold when you get out of the pool?

Question

Please answer this question using chemistry terms such as: specific heat, intermolecular forces, evaporation, etc.

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It is summertime, and you are in the pool. The air is much warmer than the pool water, but when you get out of the water into the warmer air, you feel cold! Explain why you feel cold, even though the air around you is warmer than the pool water you just got out of.

Thanks for your help.

Answer 1

Although your question could be answered using 'chemistry terms,' I feel that an answer from a medical standpoint will give you a better idea as to why this happens.

First of all, it is well known that swimming is not only relaxing but is therapeutic as well. One of the main reasons is that the water temperature (which is cooler than the air or your own body temperature) is considerably cooler and what this does is lower your blood pressure.

This lowering of your blood pressure allows you to relax and your body adjusts to the temperature of the water. This is in fact, similar to sleeping. When we sleep, our blood pressure is lowered and we often prefer to sleep in a cooler room. However, when we awaken, we find ourselves cold, because our blood pressure goes up as soon as we arise from the bed.

The factors and circumstances are the same in a swimming pool. Also, the water in the pool, because it is cooler, will close the pores of your skin and once you get out of the pool, your pores will open and the surrounding air, no matter how warm, will enter the pores of your skin, making you feel cold. It takes several seconds for your blood pressure to return to normal and the pores of your skin to close.

Therefore, you will feel cold. Normal body temperature is 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit or 37 degrees Celsius. Chances are you are not in water that is anywhere near that warm. If you are in a hot tub, the same effects will occur but likely to a much higher level. This is why some people believe that it is somehow good for the body to get into steaming hot water and then jump out into snow and then back into the water.

I am not sure if this is medically sound advice but it seems to work for people in the Scandinavian countries who swear by this.

So, this is what happens when you swim. You cannot change this as the body is doing what it must to keep your blood pressure at appropriate levels for whatever activity you may be taking part in.

Answer 2

The main reason for feeling cold when exiting a pool is because the water on your already cool body evaporates and this causes further cooling of the skin as water consumes 80 cal/g to change into water vapour - that's enough to heat a gram of water from 10 to 90 deg. C! If the air is already saturated with water vapour, then this evaporation will not take place and you won't feel so cold.

Answer 3

Water has a high heat capacity, so it removes heat from your body, which cools you. When you get out of the water, what is Left on your skin evaporates, removing yet more heat.

Answer 4

i have said that I want chilly swimming pools for short distances at competitions, because it pumps me up and makes me bypass quickly. besides the indisputable fact that, if you're doing a lengthy distance experience, a warmth pool is ideal because it facilitates you loosen up and concentrate on your pacing. For practices, i don't think of it concerns. proper for some thing is once you dive in and do not experience warmth nor chilly. The water might want to experience hotter than the air on land.

Answer 5

Water has a high latent heat capacity, so it removes heat from your body, chilling you. When you get out of the water, what is lweft on your skin evapourates, removing yet more heat.