if the normal body temp is 98.6, then why are we always so hot

[toey]

when its only 80-90 degrees outside?

I've always wondered that.

[aden_nak]

1. Now me, personally, I am always "so hot". But it ain't science, baby!

Or something.

But it might also be because our "core temperature" isn't a universal temperature or anything. Our bodies generate heat, as a rule, and that heat is radiated off of us. However, when the ambient environmental temperature is the same as or hotter than our core temperature, that heat does not radiate off of us because, as all things in nature attempt to balance themselves, we are actually ABSORBING heat from the air instead of dispersing it.

[toey]

3. ummmm

thanks? :D

[aden_nak]

4. I try to be as beligerently helpful as I can.

:P

[toey]

7. i see that :)

[tridim]

2. My guess

Because 98.6 is the body's core temperature. The skin is nowhere near that temperature.

[Kraklen]

5. How we feel heat, not temperature.

That is, we don't feel temperature as an absolute, but how fast the heat is flowing.

Take two objects at room temperature, a piece of plastic and a hunk of metal. They're both the same temperature, but the metal feels cold to the touch. It conducts heat faster, so your fingers feel like it's colder. Same with water and air. Water conducts heat faster, so it feels a lot colder than air, even if they're both 72 degrees. Eigthy ninety degrees feels hot because you're not loosing as much heat to the air as you normally would at 70 degrees.

[toey]

6. ok

that's more in the terms i can comprehend :crazy:

thanks!

[expatriot]

8. Think of it like a car engine....

I am not an expert in anatomy or mechanics but I think it is like a car.... a car engine produces tons of heat as a bi-product of its operations and therefore needs to release a lot of heat. If you are driving up a mountain in the desert, you are run the risk of seriously overheating your car even though the outside temperature is MUCH lower than the temp of the engine. It is just that the outside temp is not cool enough to cool the over-heating engine fast enough.


Our body is like that, we need to release the heat our body creates and we have major "heat sinks" where a lot of heat is released (i.e. groin, armpits, top of head) A lot more heat can be released if the outside temperature is 60 degrees than if its 95 degrees.

[expatriot]

9. btw, there is nothing magical about 98.6....

Some people's normal body temp is higher or lower... My normal body temp is 97.2- 97.5. Everytime I have it checked it is in that range.