An Internet search for why objects, especially humans, cool more rapidly in water than in air, both at the same temperature, and by how much, yields off-the-cuff answers unsupported by experiment or analysis. To answer these questions in depth requires a smattering of engineering heat transfer, including radiative transfer, and the different thermophysical properties of the two fluids. The correct ratio for humans is closer to 2 than to 10, and if this were not so, swimming in cool water could be fatal.
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2011
American Association of Physics Teachers
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