Why does your skin get cold when it comes in contact with rubbing alcohol?

Answer 1

You have to realize that your skin doesn't actually GET significantly colder when it comes into contact with rubbing alcohol, it just FEELS cold. The major contributor to this is that the rubbing alcohol cools you down just like sweat does (it dissipates your body heat by absorbing it and then evaporating off of your skin), but alcohol is much more effective at this than sweat because alcohol has a much lower boiling point than sweat, meaning that it evaporates more quickly, meaning that it dissipates your body heat more quickly.

"It opens up your pores" is off-base.

Answer 2

The alcohol evaporates at a high rate and absorbs the heat of evaporation from the skin thus cooling it locally. Even a thin film of water exposed to a breeze has a similar but slightly lesser effect. Other fast evaporating organic solvents like acetone have similar effect.

Answer 3

Since liquids require heat to evaporate, the molecules of water absorb the heat of evaporation. This causes the surroundings to cool.

Not only alcohol but also water gives this cooling effect.

Answer 4

the evapration of alcohol from the surface requires energy which it gets from the body
so loss of heat from the body gives you a sensation of feeling cold

Answer 5

Its simple because EVAPORATION IS COOLING PROCESS.

And alcohols used to evaporate significantly at normal tempereatures.

Answer 6

it opens the pores