Question

It's getting colder where I live (40 degrees Fahrenheit). The place where I live (college dormitories) pumps the heat up into the 80's, so I keep the windows open most of the time. I noticed that, when I open both windows, the room seems to cool down very quickly and stays cold. When there is only one window open, though, the room stays relatively warm, and doesn't cool down nearly as fast. There is nothing particularly different about the windows: they are the same shape, and the room is symmetric about the line between the windows (it's a rectangular room, with the two windows on the far wall). I am wondering if there is any sort of physical reason for why the room seems to cool over 2x as fast, and stay at least 10-15 degrees colder (maybe more) when both windows are open instead of just one being open. A naive initial assumption would have someone assume that if you opened both windows instead of one, the room would cool roughly 2x as fast as it would with just one window open, but it seems to be far more than this. Any ideas or solutions would be appreciated.

Answer 1

Opening both windows increases air circulation, leading to a faster cooling effect in the room compared to when only one window is open.

Step-by-step explanation:

When both windows are open, the room cools down faster and stays colder compared to when only one window is open. This is because opening both windows allows for more air circulation, which increases the rate of heat transfer. With more air flowing through the room, the warm air is replaced more quickly with colder air from outside, resulting in a faster cooling effect.

To understand this concept better, consider a scenario where you have a cup of hot coffee. If you blow cool air onto the coffee using a weak fan, it will take longer for the coffee to cool down compared to blowing cool air onto it using a strong fan.

The same principle applies to the room - opening both windows increases the flow of cold air into the room, leading to a faster cooling effect.

So, the physical reason behind the room cooling down more quickly and staying colder when both windows are open is the increased air circulation, allowing for more efficient heat transfer.