Body temperatures and sterilization points fall near the phi points between freezing and boiling.
Body temperatures vary, even within humans. The body temperatures of mammals range from around 97° to over 103° Fahrenheit. Birds have average temperatures of around 105° Fahrenheit.
The phi point between the freezing temperature (32° F) and the boiling temperature (212° F) of water is 100.8° F, or 38.2° Centigrade.
Take the phi point from the other end of the scale of temperature and you arrive at 143°, which is about the temperature required to kill bacteria. (Generally rounded and stated as 140° in most literature.)
Interestingly enough, if you take the phi point or 0.618 of 37 degrees centigrade, which is the average human body temperature, you get 23 degrees centigrade or 73 degrees Farenheit, a “room” temperature that many would consider to be just about perfect for indoor comfort and outdoor enjoyment.
Water has a very unusual property in that it reaches maximum density in the liquid state at 4° C, instead of in the solid one. This allows ice to float, which is vital to sustaining life beneath its surface in cold climates. The kilogram is defined as the mass of water filling one liter at 4° C. If this critical temperature is regarded instead of 0° C, we find that the phi point is 105.2° F, and this defines the upper end of body temperatures.
Thus even key temperatures for body heat and comfort reflect the phi points in the property of water, of which we largely consist!
| Description of key temperature point | Fahrenheit | Centigrade |
| Freezing point of water | 32° | 0° |
| Middle of range of typical body temperatures of mammals | 100.6° | 38.1° |
| Phi point 2 (0.618 down from water’s boiling point to freezing) | 100.8° | 38.2° |
| Average body temperature of birds | 105° | 40° |
| Phi point 2 (0.618 down from water’s boiling point to maximum density) | 105.2° | 40.7° |
| Phi point 1 (sterilization point) (0.618 up from water’s freezing point to boiling) | 143.2° | 61.8° |
| Boiling point of water | 212° | 100° |
| Average Body Temperatures | ||
| Animal | Fahrenheit | Centigrade |
| Elephants | 97.7 | 36.5 |
| Humans | 98.6 | 37.0 |
| Whales | 98.6 | 37.0 |
| Bat | 98.6 | 37.0 |
| Horse | 100.4 | 38.0 |
| Seal | 100.4 | 38.0 |
| Baboon | 100.6 | 38.1 |
| Rabbits | 101.0 | 38.3 |
| Cows | 101.5 | 38.6 |
| Dogs | 102.0 | 38.9 |
| Cats | 102.2 | 39.0 |
| Goats | 103.4 | 39.7 |
| Midpoint of extremes | 100.6 | 38.1 |
Insight on body temperatures in relation to phi was contributed by Stephanie Miller.
She also notes that average human body temperatures are above freezing by a number that appears in the book of Revelation – 66.6 degrees!
Insight on phi in relationship to comfort level “room” temperatures phi was contributed by Mark Gabriel.
Insight on maximum density of water and 4° C adjustment was contributed by Albert Poch Huguet.
Do these patterns hold when you switch to a Kelvin temperature scale?
Yes, the relationships still hold because the body temperatures are based strictly on their relationships to the freezing and boiling points of water. It thus doesn’t matter what numbers are assigned to those temperatures, or whether they’re measured in Fahrenheit, Centigrade, Kelvin or any other system of measure.
Linear. The answer is because they are linear.
yes because 1 kelvin equals to 1° centigrade
This website has helped me become a better dog owner
Yes, but what is the melting point of birds?
why would u want to know that
Why WOULDN’T you want to know that?
My thoughts EXACTLY.
Is there any literature supporting these values. I am looking to use them as a peer-reviewed source.
Thanks.
Here are a couple of sources that may be helpful. The best answers may require searching for each animal individually.
http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/mammal
http://www.merckmanuals.com/vet/appendixes/reference_guides/normal_rectal_temperature_ranges.html
http://www.fao.org/docrep/t0690e/t0690e04.htm#unit 4: body temperature
can you discuss sir the effects of temperature on the condition of mammals?
Not sure what you mean by “condition.” At 32 degrees they’re frozen and at 212 degrees they’re boiled, but I’m pretty sure that’s not what you’re looking for. Any other takers?
can you discuss the effects of temperature on the condition of mammals?
You know how chocolate melts when you touch it or eat it, as do other solid fats such as butter? Interestingly they all melt just a little below the body temperatures of warm blooded animals. It seems we evolved to be warm blooded at this very narrow temperature range to enable better processing of solid fats by melting them. We don’t get much more than a few degrees warmer than that because it isn’t necessary and would be wasteful on food resources to keep us hotter. Perhaps the ice ages led to us evolving this way in order to allow processing of fat to store as energy reserves. I think the golden ratio is simply a coincidence.
Interesting point about fats. Butter melts at 98.6° F, so it’s probably related to the fact that it’s an animal fat. Cocoa butter melts at 96.8° F. Chocolate melts at about 88° F. Olive oil melts at 21.2° F. It may be hard to make conclusions about evolution being the answer when the range isn’t that narrow. The clustering of body temperatures around the golden ratio point between water freezing and boiling cannot necessarily be dismissed as coincidence. The golden ratio seems to be showing up in more and more places, from the quantum level to cosmology.
I’m voting for you, Faceless Old Woman Who Secretly Lives In My Home! Yay for the melting point of birds!
Thankyou………….all of you……………..but especially Gary………………!
Something MORE to think about !
I was looking for a LIST OF ANIMAL BODY TEMPERATURES
(from frogs to mammals and birds
with a view to confirming my evolutionary bias that “we” ( and our ancestors )
evolved IN A WARMER THAN TODAY climate !
This DOES suggest that most “active lifeforms” function around about 37 degrees Celsius
which IS WARMER than today ( in fact it is cool and raining where I am at present ! )
Regards , Trevor.
Could we try blood p.H too ?