The rain is very frequent in France this year and it only takes a short time to find yourself soaked. This is why we often have the reflex to run, but is it the best idea?
When it rains and you are outside without umbrella, you can find yourself soaked in no time, especially with the important precipitation that has touched France lately. The reflex is then often to run to arrive as quickly as possible at their destination. Thus, you try to receive as few drops as possible, or at least on a minimum of time. Is this really the best solution?
By advancing, you go to meet drops of water anyway. When you walk, you are going to be touched by the rain on the vertical surfaces, the front and the back, and the horizontal those like the head and the shoulders. As the drops fall oblique, the faster you go, the more you will be wet on the vertical parts, but as you will spend less time in the rain, it can compensate. For the horizontal parts, your speed will not change the proportion of rain that falls on you. Decreasing the duration by accelerating is therefore interesting for these parts because you will limit the amount of water you may receive.
You can therefore accelerate the step, but it is not necessarily advisable to run because the time ratio / drops received may no longer be in your favor on your vertical parts. Small walking is therefore a good idea to get down less, without risking falling either. Yes, it seems better than running.
In reality, many parameters come into play. Franco Bocci, professor of engineering at the University of Brescia in Italy, published a very serious study on the subject in 2012 in theEuropean Journal of Physics. To be the least wet possible, it would actually be necessary to go at the same speed as the wind, which is not easy to assess. Iul is in any case formal: if you go faster than the gusts, you will be a little more wet.
Another important criterion: the waterproofing of clothing. The more the water falls, the more it will cross the tissues. “Thus, if we run, the water arrives faster towards us and is more likely to cross the garment than if we walk,” explains Daniel Hennequin, CNRS researcher at Ouest-France. It is therefore preferable not to run too much if you are not well equipped, which may seem contradictory. The best option is the umbrella!