When you open a fridge or a freezer and then close it again, why does it become harder to open again right after?
In: 4090
My mum always said that it breaks the fridge if you try to open it when you’ve just closed it and the suction is strong. Is this true?
The other answers are typically right, but I know that my freezer (and many others that are “frost-free”) has a fan built in that actually removes air from the inside when the door is closed, to get rid of the moisture. Until the pressure equalizes a few seconds later, the door is very difficult to force open.
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My mum always said that it breaks the fridge if you try to open it when you’ve just closed it and the suction is strong. Is this true?
I think the other hot air becoming cold answers might only be part of it.
An additional factor is when you close the fridge the force of closing it compresses the rubber seal around the door and forces some “extra” air out. So the fridge is turned into a slight vacuum until air can leak in and equalizer it.
Not sure what factor is contributing more to the effect.
I think the other hot air becoming cold answers might only be part of it.
An additional factor is when you close the fridge the force of closing it compresses the rubber seal around the door and forces some “extra” air out. So the fridge is turned into a slight vacuum until air can leak in and equalizer it.
Not sure what factor is contributing more to the effect.
You know those experiments where you fill a bottle with a little boiling water, shake it, put the cap on and then run cold water over it?
The bottle collapses in on itself because hot air takes up more space than cold air, and cooling the air makes it shrink. The plastic gets sucked inward to reduce the space in the bottle because there’s no way for air to get in and fix that imbalance the usual way.
If you’ve ever covered a syringe’s tip and then pulled, it pulls back. The fridge is the same general idea, except with the heat change above causing it to pull back rather than just not having the air there in the first place. Warm air from outside gets in and then gets chilled. Until you break the seal on the fridge, it pulls like that.
Edit: It happens in reverse too. An oven door would pop open if it didn’t have a vent.
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You know those experiments where you fill a bottle with a little boiling water, shake it, put the cap on and then run cold water over it?
The bottle collapses in on itself because hot air takes up more space than cold air, and cooling the air makes it shrink. The plastic gets sucked inward to reduce the space in the bottle because there’s no way for air to get in and fix that imbalance the usual way.
If you’ve ever covered a syringe’s tip and then pulled, it pulls back. The fridge is the same general idea, except with the heat change above causing it to pull back rather than just not having the air there in the first place. Warm air from outside gets in and then gets chilled. Until you break the seal on the fridge, it pulls like that.
Edit: It happens in reverse too. An oven door would pop open if it didn’t have a vent.
When you close the door quickly, it compresses against the seal, pushing out a little more air than the fridge usually contains. This causes less air pressure in the fridge for a moment, and the air is slightly cooled, which adds a little pressure difference. After a minute or so, enough air leaks in that the pressure equalizes.
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