Evaporative (Sweat) Cooling

Objective (observation): Demonstrate and observe the cooling properties of sweat for the human body. Correlate this
cooling with the bodies homeostatic mechanism for sweat as a cooling response to a rise in body temperature.

Hypothesis: Design for the question ‘How will a wet paper towel on a thermometer affect its temperature over time?’

Procedure (experiment):

Record the temperature of 4 different thermometers each minute for 15 minutes

1. Dry thermometer sitting at room temperature

2. Dry thermometer exposed to a breeze
3. Wet paper towel wrapped thermometer
4. Wet paper towel wrapped thermometer exposed to breeze

Data:

Minute 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 20
DT 24 31 24 26 25
c c c c c
DTB 24 25 24 23 24
c c c c c
WT 27 25 26 25 24
c c c c c
WTB 25 24 21 20 19
c c c c c

Bonus Data: Put a wet towel around someone’s arm; record the temperature of the different arms in standing air then in
front of the fan.

Data Analysis: How do the cooling patterns compare for the different thermometer scenarios? The wet causes the
thermometer to cool down. The

Conclusion: What does this tell you about the ability for sweat to cool the human body? What conditions improve the
sweating and cooling process? Could this ‘cooling’ be used for other applications?