# Questions about fanning yourself. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 16, 2012, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-fanning-yourself/622087 "2012-05-16T13:13:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2012, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-fanning-yourself/622087/1 "2012-05-16T13:13:29Z")
Having just endured an hour long elementary school program in a hot auditorium, I began to wonder about fanning oneself in an attempt to cool off. 1. Does folding a 8.5 x 11" piece of paper into the traditional fan shape help? It seems to add structural stability and allows you to fan faster but is that better than the presumably higher volume of airflow that one could achieve if the paper were left in its full size? 2. Is it even possible to cool yourself off by fanning? Sure, it feels good on your face but is the additional effort required to generate the wind counterproductive? I assume that you burn more calories and thus actually generate more heat by fanning. In this house, we obey the laws of thermodynamics. 3. I had another one but can’t think of it, so Hi Opal! ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2012, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-fanning-yourself/622087/2 "2012-05-16T14:40:29Z")
> [@Nars\_Glinley](#): > > 1. Does folding a 8.5 x 11" piece of paper into the traditional fan shape help? It seems to add structural stability and allows you to fan faster but is that better than the presumably higher volume of airflow that one could achieve if the paper were left in its full size? If the 8.5x11 flat sheet is too flimsy to bear fanning loads, then it’s probably not valid to presume that you can move more air with it unfolded than with it folded. > [@](#): > > 1. Is it even possible to cool yourself off by fanning? There’s nothing in the thermo laws that says it’s impossible to cool yourself off by active means. Refrigerators and air-conditioners do this all the time. As far as fanning yourself is concerned, the chemical energy wasted as muscular heat by a breeze-generating flick-of-the-wrist has no constraining relationship with the amount of heat removed from your body by the breeze so generated; either quantity may be larger than the other. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2012, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-fanning-yourself/622087/3 "2012-05-16T15:00:06Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > There’s nothing in the thermo laws that says it’s impossible to cool yourself off by active means. Refrigerators and air-conditioners do this all the time. As far as fanning yourself is concerned, the chemical energy wasted as muscular heat by a breeze-generating flick-of-the-wrist has no constraining relationship with the amount of heat removed from your body by the breeze so generated; either quantity may be larger than the other. Since evaporative cooling is a very efficient process, I’d think it was entirely possible to cool yourself actively. A small wrist movement can move a lot of air over a large surface area. A good comparison is a car engine, which cools itself with a fan, even though it burns fuel to do that. In elementary school the [del]crypt-keepers[/del] teachers would tell us not to fan ourselves because it was actually making us warmer. I think they were annoyed by the fanning, or just plain mean. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2012, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-fanning-yourself/622087/4 "2012-05-16T15:10:15Z")
There’s also a micro vs macro fallacy at play. I don’t care if the rest of my body got a smidge warmer if my face/head gets cooler. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2012, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-fanning-yourself/622087/5 "2012-05-16T15:48:14Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > … In elementary school the [del]crypt-keepers[/del] teachers would tell us not to fan ourselves because it was actually making us warmer. I think they were annoyed by the fanning, or just plain mean. Mine, too. I think of that every time I fan myself at a hot event. Stoopit teachers. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2012, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-fanning-yourself/622087/6 "2012-05-16T16:10:08Z")
The Straight Dope speaks: [http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2171/is-fanning-yourself-energy-efficient](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2171/is-fanning-yourself-energy-efficient) ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2012, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-fanning-yourself/622087/7 "2012-05-16T17:21:40Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > The Straight Dope speaks: > > [http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2171/is-fanning-yourself-energy-efficient](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2171/is-fanning-yourself-energy-efficient) :smack: So it looks like the correct answer to #2 is, it depends. Unfortunately, the graphs referenced in the article are dead links so it’s hard to tell where the break even points are. I’ll report this post and maybe someone will be able to find them. ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2012, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-fanning-yourself/622087/8 "2012-05-16T18:36:10Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > If the 8.5x11 flat sheet is too flimsy to bear fanning loads, then it’s probably not valid to presume that you can move more air with it unfolded than with it folded. Have you actually tried to fan you self with a 8.5x11 sheet of paper? It works fine. A slight curve in the paper is enough to allow you to fan yourself. ---
**Author:** ![Lukeinva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lukeinva/32/17872_2.png) [@Lukeinva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lukeinva)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2012, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-fanning-yourself/622087/9 "2012-05-16T18:41:28Z")
> [@gazpacho](#): > > Have you actually tried to fan you self with a 8.5x11 sheet of paper? It works fine. A slight curve in the paper is enough to allow you to fan yourself. Fold it in half for a very respectable breeze. ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2012, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-fanning-yourself/622087/10 "2012-05-16T18:57:25Z")
> [@Nars\_Glinley](#): > > :smack: > > So it looks like the correct answer to #2 is, it depends. Unfortunately, the graphs referenced in the article are dead links so it’s hard to tell where the break even points are. I’ll report this post and maybe someone will be able to find them. Here are the the three graphs which I included with my column. [http://www.coalgoddess.net/files/Pictures/1205/SR1.gif](http://www.coalgoddess.net/files/Pictures/1205/SR1.gif) [http://www.coalgoddess.net/files/Pictures/1205/SR2.gif](http://www.coalgoddess.net/files/Pictures/1205/SR2.gif) [http://www.coalgoddess.net/files/Pictures/1205/SR3.gif](http://www.coalgoddess.net/files/Pictures/1205/SR3.gif) I don’t know why they are broken again on the Straight Dope site. I cannot add files to the site. The images have been lost/broken 2 or 3 times now. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2012, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-fanning-yourself/622087/11 "2012-05-16T19:02:58Z")
> [@Great\_Antibob](#): > > I don’t care if the rest of my body got a smidge warmer if my face/head gets cooler. And it’s effective: your head/face are exposed to the moving air, not covered with clothing like other parts of your body, and the head has proportionally more blood circulation, so more cooling can take place. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2012, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-fanning-yourself/622087/12 "2012-05-16T20:22:06Z")
> [@gazpacho](#): > > Have you actually tried to fan you self with a 8.5x11 sheet of paper? My teachers told me not to, so all I can do is speculate. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2012, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-fanning-yourself/622087/13 "2012-05-16T20:39:30Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > I think they were annoyed by the fanning, or just plain mean. So you’ve got 30 kids. A couple want to fan themselves. Okay. Then they all want to fan themselves. Then they fan each other. Then they drop the fans. Then they poke each other with the fans. And I’m trying to teach the Assiciative Property of Multiplication. Yes, annoying. However, since I had a straw fan to fan myself, as longas they could do it reasonably quietly I didn’t care. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2012, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-fanning-yourself/622087/14 "2012-05-16T20:42:59Z")
… and color all over the fans to decorate them. … and stick them in the hair of the student in front of them. … and turn them into paper airplanes.