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Chapter 15: Q27CQ (page 549)

Can you cool a kitchen by leaving the refrigerator door open?

Short Answer

Expert verified

No, it is not possible to make a kitchen cool by leaving the door of a refrigerator open.

Step by step solution

01

Describe how the refrigerator works.

A refrigerator operates in a reverse mode to that of a heat pump. It takes heat from the cooler body and transfers it to the hot body. The work input is required to transfer heat from cold to hot body.

02

Explain what happens to the kitchen temperature when the refrigerator door is open

The refrigerator transfers heat from a cold body to a hot body, using the work done on it. The atmosphere around the fridge acts as an infinite source of energy. So if we leave the door of the refrigerator open, it will take heat from the surrounding, external work being done on it, and then releases a large amount of heat into the surrounding. It will make the surroundings warm.

Therefore, you cannot make the kitchen cool by leaving the refrigerator door open.

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Most popular questions from this chapter

Does a gas become more orderly when it liquefies? Does its entropy change? If so, does the entropy increase or decrease? Explain your answer.

Grocery store managers contend that there is less total energy consumption in the summer if the store is kept at a low temperature. Make arguments to support or refute this claim, taking into account that there are numerous refrigerators and freezers in the store.

A\({\bf{4}}\)-ton air conditioner removes\({\bf{5}}.{\bf{06}} \times {\bf{1}}{{\bf{0}}^{\bf{7}}}\;{\bf{J}}\)(\({\bf{48}},{\bf{000}}\)British thermal units) from a cold environment in\({\bf{1}}.{\bf{00}}\;{\bf{h}}\). (a) What energy input in joules is necessary to do this if the air conditioner has an energy efficiency rating ( EER) of\({\bf{12}}.{\bf{0}}\)? (b) What is the cost of doing this if the work costs\({\bf{10}}.{\bf{0}}\)cents per\({\bf{3}}.{\bf{60}} \times {\bf{1}}{{\bf{0}}^{\bf{6}}}\;{\bf{J}}\)(one kilowatt-hour)? (c) Discuss whether this cost seems realistic. Note that the energy efficiency rating ( EER) of an air conditioner or refrigerator is defined to be the number of British thermal units of heat transfer from a cold environment per hour divided by the watts of power input.

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