Thursday 1 August 2019

Temperature: feeling the heat

When the temperature hits nearly 30 degrees Celsius in the uplands of northern England, it's big news. My car thermometer has a resolution of 0.5 degrees Celsius. But is that meaningful to me? Could I feel a change of 0.5 degrees? I wouldn't have thought so. But a result posted on https://ask.metafilter.com/291722/What-temperature-gradations-can-a-person-actually-feel argues that a change of 1 degree from 21 Celsius to 22 Celsius would reduce heat loss by 8%. This percentage will change depending on where on the scale the 1 degree change takes place.