Most of the energy we consume as food is converted to thermal energy in the process of performing all our bodily functions and is ultimately lost from our bodies. Consider a person who consumes 2100kcal per day (note that what are commonly referred to as food calories are actually kilocalories), of which 2000kcal is converted to thermal energy. The remaining 100kcal is used to do work on the environment. The person has a surface area of 1.8m2 and is dressed in a bathing suit. a. The person is in a room at 18oC, with a convection heat transfer coefficient of 3W/m2⋅K at this air temperature, the person is not perspiring much. Estimate the person's average skin temperature.
b. If the temperature of the environment were 33oC, what rate of perspiration would be needed to maintain a comfortable skin temperature of 33oC?