Hot Weather, Cold Pool: The Science Behind Why We Shiver in Warm Water

  • Context: High School 
  • Thread starter Thread starter strangefool
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Discussion Overview

The discussion centers around the phenomenon of shivering after swimming in a warm pool on a hot day, exploring the underlying scientific principles and potential explanations for this experience. The scope includes conceptual understanding and exploratory reasoning related to thermodynamics and human physiology.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Conceptual clarification, Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant notes that evaporation causes refrigeration, suggesting a link between moisture loss and temperature sensation.
  • Another participant proposes that the question may be misleading, speculating that the pool could be indoors with a low thermostat, which might contribute to the shivering sensation.
  • A third participant references chemistry concepts, indicating that the evaporation of water from the body is an exothermic process that pulls heat away, contributing to the cooling effect.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants present multiple competing views regarding the cause of shivering, with no consensus reached on a single explanation.

Contextual Notes

Some assumptions about the environment, such as the location of the pool and the conditions of the air and water, remain unresolved. The discussion also reflects varying interpretations of thermodynamic principles without definitive conclusions.

strangefool
It was a 104 degree (F), zero humidity day in Las Vegas. I was standing by the pool. Everybody that went swimming emerged from the pool and instantly began shivering from the cold. It was HOT outside...VERY hot, yet their teeth were rattling from the cold and the pool water was warm too.

Why does this happen?

I am a non-physicist being bugged by a mate about this. Need help to shut him up.
 
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Evaporation causes refridgeration.
 
My hunch is that most of the question is a red herring, and that the swimming pool is indoors and the thermostat is turned down low, thus chilling them as they exit the pool.
 
If I remember correctly from Chemistry, what you're talking about would be classified as an exothermic reaction where heat is released. So when the water evaporates from the body, it is pulling heat away in an exothermic process, resulting in refridgeration as zoobyshoe said.
 

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