Eli5: How did people make and keep ice in medieval times, and how do we manufacture ice cubes now ?
In: Technology
Ice was taken in large chunks from frozen lakes and stored. When you store a huge chunk of ice in an insulated building, it melts very slowly.
Ice is made now using chemical refrigeratants. These are chemicals that remove heat from nearby stuff very rapidly. Remove enough heat from water and it turns to ice.
The refrigerants are then cooled off and used again.
Fun fact: Almost all of our chemical refrigerants are green house gases that, when leaked, lead to global climate change. Many climate change experts believe refrigerants are the number one thing that should be regulated to prevent climate change. Modern Refrigerants are 700-1000 times more warming to the planet than C02.
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