[ponchi]

ponchi asked the Naked Scientists:

Greetings from Texas, USA.  

Doc I always have wondered why my wife is always cold. I would like to think she was more temperature sensitive than I am, but it just seems that she and most women are always cold.  Is there a scientific explanation why men have to adjust the room temp to make the women happy?

thanks  ponchi herrera

What do you think?

[lyner]

I think it's because women usually aim at wearing the minimum (showing off womanly curves etc) Once the temperature drops, they need to put on a layer or freeze.

None of which is confirmed by the young girlies I saw last February in Glasgow with next to nothing on, flitting through the snow from club to club whilst I was shuffling round in my North Face Parka.

But what guy wears BED SOCKS??

[RD]

None of which is confirmed by the young girlies I saw last February in Glasgow with next to nothing on, flitting through the snow from club to club whilst I was shuffling round in my North Face Parka.

The effects of alcohol (e.g. vasodilation) may explain why they did not feel the cold.

[Chemistry4me]

Maybe women usually have a lower metabolic rate compared to men, so thats why they are usually colder?

[RD]

Women are typically smaller than men.

The smaller a person is the higher their surface-area to volume ratio.

The higher their surface-area to volume ratio the faster they lose heat.

An extreme example being babies who can lose heat much more rapidly than an adult. 

[lyner]

But they have that (delightful) thin layer of body fat all over them. I just have bones and blood vessels under a layer of skin (except around the tum).

None of which is confirmed by the young girlies I saw last February in Glasgow with next to nothing on, flitting through the snow from club to club whilst I was shuffling round in my North Face Parka.

The effects of alcohol (e.g. vasodilation) may explain why they did not feel the cold.

My daughter explained the real reason. When you take a coat into a club, they charge you to leave it in the cloakroom. And it was Scotland, remember.

[RD]

But they have that (delightful) thin layer of body fat all over them. I just have bones and blood vessels under a layer of skin (except around the tum).

Yes percentage-wise females have more body fat than males, but best not tell them that  [B)].

it was Scotland, remember.

That's partially what made me think alcohol was the cause []