My friends and i got stuck hiking in a ice/rain storm. One of my friends was wearing a short sleeve shirt with shorts, and the other was wearing a long sleeve shirt with jeans. Both were drenched, hiking in 30 degrees. Which friend would be the coldest?
2007-08-25 16:13:25 · 8 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Weather
It would depend on the fabric of each item. If the clothing items were made of wool or some of the newer gortex/thermalite fabrics, they can help retain up to 80% of body heat, even when wet. But nylons and cottons, and some other fabrics, can act as a wick and actually draw body heat out when wet, making you colder.
So whatever the clothes, its the fabric that determines the body's ability to cope with the cold, when wet.
2007-08-25 16:23:13 · answer #1 · answered by Barb Outhere 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The friend with short sleeves will be colder.
Let's look at this logically. The only source of heat is your own body. Keeping that heat trapped is what will keep your body temperature stable in cold weather.
Furthermore, if you factor in the windchill, you don't want your body exposed to the wind, it essentially blows the heat away from your body making it feel colder.
When moisture evaporates it takes away alot of heat around it, that's why it feels cold when you get out of the shower. Wind aides the evaportation process. Keep yourself covered in a wet towel actaully "feels" warm compared to standing there naked.
What might be confusing people is the fact that you should remove all wet clothes when you get to a warm place to help your body warm up. After all, having on cold wet clothes in a warm dry place defeates the entire purpose of trying to warm up.
PS- WHY was your friend in short sleeves in a winter storm, HIKING?!?
2007-08-26 01:15:04 · answer #2 · answered by Dr. AjC ♍ 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It mostly depends on the fabric. Wool rules, cotton drools. It also depends on the thickness, the fit, and number of layers. Even wet cotton can trap some air between the layers, or between you and the cloth, and air insulates well. And even wet cotton has *some* insulation value, even though evaporation has it beat by a mile for normal thicknesses.
Although it's not significant at 30 fahrenheit, another factor is the humidity. In warm humid weather, it would be a more equal race between evaporation (more moist material --> more cooling) and insulation (more area covered --> less heat loss), and humidity makes the difference to how much evaporation you have, if it brings the dew point up near the temperature of the outer surface of your clothing.
But differences between the individuals themselves are likely to be bigger than the difference between wet sleeves and short sleeves. When I was in college I had crazy metabolism that let me be just fine wearing wet cotton in 30 degree weather as long as I kept moving. (In that case it was because our canoe hit a barely-submerged stump and tipped over.)
2007-08-26 01:44:12 · answer #3 · answered by dsw_s 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I would think the friend wearing more clothes since fabric dries a lot slower than skin so you have more fabric staying wet and cold for a long time. Either way, wet clothes is a bad idea in a cold situation.
2007-08-25 23:19:32 · answer #4 · answered by Lady Geologist 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The one with long sleeves, the longer sleeves are trapping more of your bodys natural heat keeping you warmer.
2007-08-25 23:19:20 · answer #5 · answered by imbob78 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The friend in the jeans would be the coldest. Jeans, once they get wet, they stay wet. They have no fibers.
2007-08-25 23:28:31 · answer #6 · answered by Cecilia ♡ 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Short sleeves will allow you to dry faster, and drier is more important when it comes to staying warm.
2007-08-26 00:51:18 · answer #7 · answered by Strix 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
long sleeve shirt and jeans would be colder
2007-08-26 00:23:41 · answer #8 · answered by Brad M 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋