[Sarah32]

I came over this question in my homework and I am not sure how to answer it. Can you guys help me out? Thanks in advance

People who have been submerged in very cold water and who have been belived to be drowned sometimes can be revived. On the other hand, people who have been submerged in warmer water for the same period of time have drowned. Explain this difference.

[enahs]

The difference is the temperature. Why do you think that effects things? What is it effecting? How?

Note, this is really a crappy question in my opinion, very abstract and heavy on assumptions.

[Sarah32]

Yah tell me about it. Thats all the question says I typed it out word for word. I have don't know what else to tell you, other than it has to do with rates of reactions....

[Borek]

Note, this is really a crappy question in my opinion, very abstract and heavy on assumptions.

And for me it is a good one. It doesn't state "always", it states "it happens" - and that's true. And the reason for the occassional survival in cold water is kinetics. AFAIR the problem is - how to bring them back without doing more damage to the brain tissues. Ie you need body at "full speed" before warming up the brain, otherwise the brain needs more oxygen than the cold heart/lungs can supply.

Yah tell me about it.

I am more then sure that you were either already told in class what happens with the reaction speed when temperature changes, or it is explained in your book. Or in wikipedia. Or somewhere on the net and it can be googled.

[IITian]

As you increase the temperature the rate of reaction increases. As a rough approximation, for many reactions happening at around room temperature, the rate of reaction doubles for every 10°C rise in temperature.

You have to be careful not to take this too literally. It doesn't apply to all reactions. Even where it is approximately true, it may be that the rate doubles every 9°C or 11°C or whatever. The number of degrees needed to double the rate will also change gradually as the temperature increases.