Why is 50 degree water colder than 50 degree air?

Question

you know how if its about 70 degrees inside but then you go into the shower and turn on 70 degree water it is much colder? why does this happen?

Answer 1

Maybe 'cause of the effect of the water evaporating on your skin?  Just a guess.

Answer 2

Because the air surrounding your body touch your body all around and you get used on the air coldness, but when you enter the shower the water touch you in few spots and that's make you think its colder. Also for humans is natural to walk true air but unnatural to walk in to water so that's all about your mind playing trick with you. The 70 degrees is 70 degrees in whater or in the air.

Answer 3

the water evparotes on your skin plus the air blowing on it can make it alot cooler...An water is much dense so the temperatures happen to have a more extreme difference sometimes...

Answer 4

air density

Answer 5

It is not really colder, it's just that you are bathing your body with it, so it feels colder.  50 degrees is 50 degrees as long as you are using the same temperature scale (Fahrenheit in your example).

Answer 6

Air is not as effective at removing heat from a body as moving water.  It is the effectiveness of a liquid in contact with a surface in contrast to air in contact with that same surface.

The heat capacity of water is higher than the heat capacity of air.

Answer 7

The reason for this is due to specific heat capacity. The heat capacity of an element determines how much energy an element can store per unit volume, and how quickly that thermal measurement can change. Water is more dense than air which means that it stores more energy(or negative energy) per unit than air; water heats and cools more slowly than air in a closed system.

Essentially, your body produces heat at a rate which is sufficient to keep you feeling warm when being in contact with air. However, water cools you and even conducts better than air and this is why water can seem colder in the shower(conduction is the transfer of heat due to contact between two objects).