Childes Legend Many centuries ago a nobleman named

Childe’s Legend Many centuries ago a nobleman named Childe was out hunting alone on his horse in a remote place in Dartmoor. It was winter and a sudden snow storm blew up which Childe had not anticipated and for which he was ill prepared.

Childe became disorientated and lost in the blizzard and decided to wait out the The storm persisted and Childe grew colder and colder. He realised that he might die of cold before the storm ended. It was then that he thought of a desperate plan to keep warm. He would slaughter his horse and step into the body and use this for warmth and shelter.

He did this and waited for the storm to pass. Was this a good idea (from a scientific point of view) and was it likely to save his life? Try to list advantages and disadvantages. Solution End presentation

Solution Advantages q Rate of heat loss depends on the surrounding temperature, and his surrounding temperature would be raised for a while. q For comparable shapes the rate of heat loss is slower for larger masses. q. Inside the horse wind chill would be much reduced. q The flesh of the horse would act as additional insulation. Disadvantages q He presumably got soaked in blood and by being wet (possibly wetter than he had been) heat transfer could increase as liquids are better conductors of heat than gases. q He would now lose heat energy by evapoation.

Air is a poor conductor of heat and if air is trapped it cannot create convection currents which speeds heat transfer. Childe realised he would die and had no means of escape but before dying he wrote his will in the blood from the horse. When I went to film this area of the moors it was April and the weather had been very dry. Even today it is a remote place with a marsh and streams that make it difficult and dangerous to reach even in the spring. End presentation

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