If you run in the rain......

[Crackle]

................do you get less wet?

'cause I didn't bother today and I got wet. I figured if I ran I'd get just as wet, was I right?

 

[ColinJ]

................do you get less wet?

'cause I didn't bother today and I got wet. I figured if I ran I'd get just as wet, was I right?

'Yes', in the sense that you encounter less water.

Probably 'No', in terms of whether you can get wetter than 'already soaked'.

 

[Mr Pig]

Whatever the answer you will not stay as dry as you would if you stayed in the house.

 

[Crackle]

'Yes', in the sense that you encounter less water.

I'm covering the same amount of distance and therefore the same volume of water is going to hit me though whether I run or walk?

Back in your sty, Pig.

 

[Noodley]

Would it not hit you harder if you were running and have more impact?

Although maybe less would hit you if you got there quicker?

I know there is a relationship between faster speed and not getting wet when cycling, therefore removing the need for mudguards.....

 

[marinyork]

Without experiment it's a thought experiment that hinges on the assumptions. If you run you cover a greater area that has been rained upon, like picking up all the rain you would walking but faster? Do you dodge rain in that greater area or does it hit you? If you ran fast enough you would dodge some of it? If you view it as a time problem then walking you get more wet. It's a bit in the Zeno direction really.

 

[Mr Pig]

I'm covering the same distance and therefore the same volume of water is going to hit me whether I run or walk?

Not necessarily. If you assume that it's not windy and the rain is falling straight down. If you stand still rain will land on your head and shoulders, the area presented to the vertically falling drops.

However, if you run in the same rain not only will drops land on you but you will run into drops that would otherwise pass in front of you.

However, if you have an umbrella, it's windy or you wear a car, or any other of a large number of variables, the above ilistaration is rendered bollocks! :0)

 

[marinyork]

Well you see this in cycling too Mr Pig. Whenever I go out on the hybrid in heavy rain the upper legs get absolutely drenched from upright motion whereas in heavy rain when walking they just get a bit damp or running which is somewhere in between. In reality when I run/walk in heavy rain, overall I get more soaked walking.

 

[Bigtwin]

You get wetter if you run.

This was covered on R4 sometime last year by some Phd student from, I see to recall, Manchester Uni (could be wrong), who has spent an inordinate amount of time solving this seeming trivial question.

Here's a bit from the NYT saying the opposite, just for balance: mhttp://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/24/health/24real.html/partner/rssnyt/

If you butter the top of a cat, will it always land upside down?

 

[marinyork]

It is non-trivial.

 

[Crackle]

I wonder if I ran sideways, presenting less frontal area, would that be better then.

 

[Bigtwin]

If you have a massive swede, just walk.

 

[montage]

The covered this on Brainiac to great extent.

The had two scientists dress up in sponge suits....one walked in the raid, one ran. The one that ran had more water rung out of his sponge.


Scientific enough for you?

 

[Night Train]

If it is raining I will run because I am cold, wet and miserable for less time then if I walked in it. The exception is if I am walking with attractive company, then it is a case of 'Is it raining? I hadn't noticed.' from Four Weddings...

 

[ColinJ]

Think of it like this...

If it was going to rain for your entire life, and you walked so slowly that it was almost like standing on the spot, you'd have an awful lot of water land on you.

Now, instead of walking very, very, very slowly - run! It doesn't have to be that fast. Does more rain land on you or less?