Why do we feel that temperatures over 30 degrees celcius are concidered hot, when body temperature is over 37?

Answer 1

The human sensory system works like this:

1. When our surrounding are hotter than our skin temperature, we sweat and feel the need to drink, go for a swim, have an ice-lolly, etc.
2. When our surroundings are cooler than our skin temperature, we shiver and feel the need for hot drinks, heat from a fire, more clothing, etc

Normal human skin temperature is around 26 degC when in light clothing and at rest. That's why we think 30 degC is hot.

Incidentally, when we have a fever, our blood temperature rises to, say, 40 degC. Skin temperature also rises, slightly more than 3 degC because of the surface blood supply. That is why we feel cold when we have a fever and shiver a lot. We are hotter than our surrounding. In principle, a fever suffered in a room temperature of 40 degC our not to feel hot or shivvery - but I don't know if this experiment has been carried out.

Answer 2

The value of temperature alone should not be considered for feeling the hotness of air.Moisture content in the air is the important factor to be cosidered.A moist air at 30 degree celcius contains more heat than a dry air at the same temperature.Moist air is a good absorber of heat reflected by the earth.The heat required to raise the temperature of moist air from 29 degrees to 30 degrees is more than that required for a dry air from the same 29 to 30 degree celcius as the specific heat of water is more.Moreover the moisture does not allow evaporation and hence the cooling of the body when perspiration occurs.So we feel uncomfortable even at a temperature lower than that of the body.

Answer 3

It really depends on the person. Hot is a relative term that will vary from person to person. Many people also consider the relative humidity in describing the term "hot". Some people who are comfortable at 30 degrees C with 30% humidity are "hot" when it is still 30 degrees C and 60% humidity. Some people are very comfortable at 30 degrees C while others, (like myself) are much more comfortable at temperatures much lower. At air temperatures approaching body temperature, the body has to work harder to regulate its temperature and it uses sweat to lower it's temperature through evaportion. When our bodies are working harder to maintain its heat balance (either too hot or too cold), we feel it as being uncomfortable. That varies from person to person as well.

Answer 4

Actually it is a function of temperature and humidity. My pool water is over 30 C but feels cooling because you still lose heat to the water. Moist air at 30 C does not facilitate the cooling of skin by sweating so we feel hot. Dry air at even 40 C still does facilitate cooling by sweating so can feel better than moist 30. Here we enjoy summer air temperatures of 40 or even 50 plus but normally very dry. I find over 44 C is like breathing air from an oven but less than 44 C and dry it is possible to keep "cool".

Answer 5

I live in England and I find 30 degrees very warm as I live in a temperate region of the world which means that I am used to rain and snow for half of the year, however my fiancee who is from Mission in southern Texas were it is constantly over 30 degrees there complains about how cold our summers are and one of my colleagues at work who is from Nigeria in Africa constantly wears a coat in the middle of summer as he says that it is never hot enough for him, so I guess that despite everyone talking about humidity in their comments which I am sure contributes to the affect, it really boils down to what you are used to.

Answer 6

1

Answer 7

i know, we should feel comfortable but we dont