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perrochon t1_izb3wsy wrote

Reply to comment by baloo_the_bear in If you wrapped a human in a theoretical blanket that was able to insulate 100% of heat produced by the person, would that person’s body temperature eventually reach equilibrium, or would their metabolism cause them to keep getting hotter and hotter until they perish? by NonEuclideanGal

Just to add some napkin physics....

A human is producing ~100 watts of power at rest. Water's specific heat capacity is 4.186J/g. Humans consist of much water. Heating a 75kg bag of water 1 degree C using 100W takes 52 minutes.

https://www.google.com/search?q=4.184+joules%2Fg+*+75kg+%2F+100+watt

Normal body temperature is ~37C, life threatening is ~40C. ~41C starts irreversible protein denaturation. So give or take 4 hours to serious damage.

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NakoL1 t1_izb94r0 wrote

also of note if anyone's interested, is that 100W over 24 hours is 2.4 kWh or 8,640 kJ or 2,065 kcal

obviously the actual metabolic rate varies greatly, from around 60-70W or so during deep sleep to >1,000W during intense exercise. As well as between different people

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