Why is the freezer more frozen after not shutting it properly?

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Basically the title: If I leave the freezer door slightly open it seems to be “more frozen” than before – big chunks of ice on everything, stuff frozen together. Why is that? The food can go bad in this state but it LOOKS colder (I know this is stupid). In my mind it should just melt and warm up 🤷🏻‍♀️

In: Physics

14 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

1) Water can naturally vaporize in air in certain quantities, depending on temperature. More precisely, hot air can accept more water in it.

2) When you open the door, you let new “hot” air enter. This hot air, comming from your kitchen, contains a fair amount of water vapor.

3) When you close the door, you basically tell the air : “ok now you’re stuck there, and you will cool down”.

4) Air becomes cold, so it is able to contain less water vapor. This water has nothing else to do than leave the air, which means to regroup to form tiny drops. Those are the drops you see at the back of the refregirator.
If it’s a freezer, those drop… (You guessed it, they freeze), and if you let them build up they become a pain in the ass to remove.

5) If you leave it slighly open, you may create a slow air flow. The cold freezer air goes out via the bottom, sucking in hot air from above. The same phenomenon occurs, continuously.

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