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Old June 9th 06, 07:26 AM posted to uk.sci.weather
Les Hemmings Les Hemmings is offline
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First recorded activity by Weather-Banter: Jul 2005
Posts: 182
Default Accuracy of car thermometers

Darren Prescott wrote:
"JPG" wrote in message
...
Reflecting the current poor performance in science many candidates,
some of them with top physics degrees, used to answer, somewhat
intutitively but totally incorrectly, that the temperature would
fall.

I had an argument with a mechanic a long time ago; he swore blind
that car radiators could ice up even if the air temperature was above
freezing due to wind-chill effects.


My old Volvo's carb used to ice up due to the evaporation of petrol even on
summer days. I suppose if the radiator had a leak and the ethylene glycol /
water mixture evaporates fast enough you could get below ambient. But then
the engine is pumping heat into it hand over fist anyway, so probably not.
The strangest feeling with the wind chill effect was a VERY hot summer's day
blatting down from the Plume and Feathers at Princetown to Paignton sea
front on the back of a Kawasaki Z750. We really didn't hang about and it
gets pretty cold as the sweat evaporates. I still remember getting off the
bike shivering, surrounded by people in trunks, soft tarmac and sun tan
lotion. Feeling the heat creep back in. Very odd....

Les


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Les Hemmings a.a #2251 SA