For much of the modern day world, refrigeration has taken on a very big role in everyday life for the average person. Many advances in the technology of refrigeration have occurred over the last couple hundred years. These advances helped to make daily human life easier through cooling, storing, and conserving food as well as other goods. However, much of the history that went into creating this common household appliance is overlooked and undervalued by those who have access to it every day.
Household refrigerators have only been around for about 100 years; however, the idea of refrigeration dates all the way back to the Romans who used an evaporative cooling system with terracotta pots to keep their food chilled. Many used ice and snow throughout history to cool items. It wasn’t until the 19th century that refrigeration became a necessity in order to keep food from going bad. This happened because the diet of the average North American changed between 1830 and 1865, and the consumption of more fresh produce occurred. Through much of the 1800s, there was a booming ice industry that worked as refrigeration through the summer months. Business would scrape ice off of the top of ponds and distribute it to consumers looking to keep food cold. However, this eventually came with problems, and others looked into new solutions.
A man by the name of Sadi Nicholas Leonard Carnot started experimenting with the idea of hot and cold in the early 19th century. He released a book in 1824 that shared his observations in attempting to find the amount of work per one kilogram of steam. He found that temperature was equivalent to dropping water from different heights. In his experiments he found that water released from a greater height could produc...
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...cause it was invented. The major role that refrigeration plays in every day life and how it got us to where we are today is taken for granted by many who never knew the struggle of not having this now common amenity. The refrigerator is one the single best inventions ever created by man, and it should not be forgotten.
Works Cited
Dobos, Aron. "Thermodynamics of Refrigeration Systems." Thermodynamics of Refrigeration Systems. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Nov. 2013.
"The History of the Refrigerator." Gizmo Highway. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Nov. 2013.
"How Does A Refrigerator Work?" Energy Quest. N.p., 22 Apr. 2002. Web. 10 Nov. 2013.
Krasner-Khait, Barbara. "The Impact of Refrigeration." History Magazine. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Nov. 2013.
"Refrigerators and the Second Law of Thermodynamics." Department of Physics, California State University, Stanislaus. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Nov. 2013.
Thermodynamics is essentially how heat energy transfers from one substance to another. In “Joe Science vs. the Water Heater,” the temperature of water in a water heater must be found without measuring the water directly from the water heater. This problem was translated to the lab by providing heated water, fish bowl thermometers, styrofoam cups, and all other instruments found in the lab. The thermometer only reaches 45 degrees celsius; therefore, thermodynamic equations need to be applied in order to find the original temperature of the hot water. We also had access to deionized water that was approximately room temperature.
Ruth Schwartz Cowan wrote “How the Refrigerator Got Its Hum” in 1983. It was included in the section, “Failed Machines” of her book. I never thought about why most refrigerators are electric. We have owned gas stoves and dryers, but never a gas refrigerator. Gas appliances cost more upfront, but are inexpensive to run over time. Personally, I would rather have gas appliances than electric and believe many other people would too; however, there are major factors that caused the gas refrigerator to fail.
Situation and SWOT Analysis YETI coolers are built with purpose and are designed to withstand abuse from the outdoor elements. The entire reason the founders designed YETI coolers was to aid outdoorsman in their everyday lives. From fly fishing in Belize to elk hunting in Colorado, the YETI was made to store perishables for an extended amount of time and endure the abuse of the miles traveled. YETI’s mission statement is interrelated with their founder’s needs’, “Build the cooler we’d use everyday.” The cooler is made for outdoorsmen/women, commercial fishing, hunting, and outdoor activities that can keep game, food, drinks, beer, wildly longer and colder.
The data which was collected in Procedure A was able to produce a relatively straight line. Even though this did have few straying points, there was a positive correlation. This lab was able to support Newton’s Law of Heating and Cooling.
One of the greatest accomplishments and innovations of human history thus far is the invention of the electric refrigerator. Such a simple concept has literally changed how the entire world stores food and has saved millions of lives in the process. Refrigeration as we know it has only been around since the 1930’s, and in less then a hundred years has been greatly taken for granted. Since the influence of electrical engineering in the modern refrigerator, refrigeration has gone from storing food in an ice cellar to being able to have two dedicating refrigeration units with controllable temperatures and even an ice machine attached. Without electricity modern refrigeration would be drastically different, using instead previous refrigeration
This law, known as Gay-Lussac’s law, observes the relationship between the pressure and temperature of a gas. Contrary to its name, this relationship was actually discovered by French scientific instrument inventor and physicist Guillaume Amontons, and is occasionally referred to Amontons’ Law of Pressure-Temperature. While Guy-Lussac did explore the temperature-pressure relationship, Guy-Lussac’s law is usually used to refer to the law of combining volumes. Amontons stubble across this relationship when he was building an “air thermometer.” Although not many have been able identify his exact method of experimentation, later scientist developed an apparatus in which consisted of pressure gauge and a metal sphere. These two pieces were then attached and submerged in solutions of varying temperatures. From Amontons’ and Guy-Lussac’s research and experimentation, they determined that pressure and volume had direct relationship; as one increased, the other increased. The quotient of pressure and temperature was then found to equal a constant, in which just like Boyle’s law, could be used to find one of the two variables at another pressure or temperature, given one of the variables and that the other conditions remain the same. Instead of using various solutions at different temperatures like in the experiment describe above, many experiments today utilize a solution in which the temperature is increased or decrease, such as in the following
A hot plate is acquired and plugged in and if left to warm up. Fill two beakers with 0.075kg of water and record the temperature using a thermometer and record it. Place one of the beakers onto the hot plate and drop one of the metal objects in. Wait for the water to boil and wait two minutes. Take the object out of the water and drop it into the other beaker. Take the temperature of the beaker and record the rise in temperature.
Faraday's work on the liquefaction of gases came at a time when the Royal Institution was experiencing lean times and researchers had been forced to turn their attention towards the commercial aspects of science in order to survive. In between working on steel for surgical instruments and improving the manufacture of glass for optics, Faraday continued his research. After fruitlessly heating gases in an attempt to liquefy them, Faraday chan...
Lab 4: Energy Conservation: Hot Stuff!! The purpose of this experiment is to try to find the original temperature of the hot water in the heater using the 60 degrees C thermometer. Use your 60°C thermometer, and any materials available in your laboratory, to determine the temperature of the water in the coffee pot. During this experiment we calculated the original temperature of a heater after it had been cooled down, and we did this by measuring hot, cold, and warm water, with a thermometer that had tape covering 60 degrees and up.
In this time of age, things have been consuming a lot of electricity compared to the old electrical appliances. People have been innovating different types of electrical appliances to reduce the amount of electricity used by the household such as air conditioner, refrigerator, television, and other appliances. One way of saving electricity which have been introduced in the new era is the Bio Robot Refrigerator introduced by a student from Russia, Yuriy Dmitriev, which is one of the 25 finalists in the Electrolux Design Lab competition. The competition is to challenge the entrants to redesign the modern appliances for the future.
Refrigeration Refrigeration is defined as “The process of removing heat from an enclosed space, or from a substance, to lower its pressure.” (First website given in bibliography) In simpler terms, it is removing heat from states of matter in order to keep them cooler. The basic need for refrigeration is to cool food and beverages, as they often get spoilt if the temperature is high. Before actual refrigerators and other such mechanical systems were introduced, it was very common for people to cool their food with ice and snow.
Thermodynamics is the branch of science concerned with the nature of heat and its conversion to any form of energy. In thermodynamics, both the thermodynamic system and its environment are considered. A thermodynamic system, in general, is defined by its volume, pressure, temperature, and chemical make-up. In general, the environment will contain heat sources with unlimited heat capacity allowing it to give and receive heat without changing its temperature. Whenever the conditions change, the thermodynamic system will respond by changing its state; the temperature, volume, pressure, or chemical make-up will adjust accordingly in order to reach its original state of equilibrium. There are three laws of thermodynamics in which the changing system can follow in order to return to equilibrium.
Throughout Thomson’s life he made many contributions to science. These include discoveries in thermodynamics and the age of the Earth, as well as innovating the Transatlantic Cable and inventing a tide meter. After exploring thermodynamics for some time, he developed the second law of thermodynamics. This law states that there cannot be a reaction that is completely efficient; a portion of the energy is lost to heat in each reaction. It also says that heat flows to areas that...
In thermodynamics Refrigeration is the major application area, in which the heat is transferred from a lower temperature region to a higher temperature region. The devices which produce refrigeration are known as Refrigerators and the cycle on which it operates are called refrigeration cycles. Vapour compression refrigeration cycle is the most regularly used refrigeration cycle in which the refrigerant is alternately vaporized and condensed and in the vapor phase it is compressed. Gas refrigeration cycle is the well-known refrigeration cycle in which cycle refrigerant remains in the gaseous phase throughout the cycle. Cascade refrigeration are the other refrigeration cycles discussed in this chapter; absorption refrigeration is the one more refrigeration cycle which is used where the refrigerant is dissolved in liquid before it is compressed. One more refrigeration in which refrigeration is produced by passing the electric current through two dissimilar materials is called as the thermoelectric refrigeration.
“Don’t worry if your theory doesn’t agree with the observations, because they are probably wrong.’ But if your theory does not agree with the 2nd law of thermodynamics then it is in serious trouble”.