How thermoregulation works

Question	Answer
Sweating	excess salts and some water are secreted by sweat glands onto the surface of the skin. This requires (thermal) energy to evaporate. The body heat evaporates the sweat, which in turn takes the heat with it.
Vasodilation	Blood vessels close to the surface of the skin dilate and because of this, are often pushed further to the surface of the skin. This allows heat to escape more easily through radiation and conduction.
Hairs lie flat	This prevents any insulating air particles from being trapped between hairs (we want to avoid being warmer!)
Vasoconstriction	This is when blood vessels (that have capillaries that branch close to the skin surface) constrict to reduce the amount of blood flow. This prevents heat loss.
Hairs stand up	This traps an insulating layer of air particles between the hairs which allows one to stay warmer.
Shivering	This is caused by rapid contractions of muscles. The heat generated by respiration through the contractions of the muscles help the body stay warm

Resource summary

	Created by Carolina Nina Matos over 8 years ago