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Probably a stupid question, but will we ever have something like a microwave to make things cold? Is there a reason this can't exist?
(lemmy.dbzer0.com)
this post was submitted on 14 Sep 2023
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That's an air conditioner. Or a fridge.
You just need to adjust the output and input sizes. Do to like... physics. It is easier to add heat to a system than to remove it.
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These are all word for word the same answers to the not poop for 3 days quest.
I present the Macro Wave!
Removing heat energy is what your freezer does, by transferring it outside of the freezer box.
You can’t just remove heat by adding electromagnetic energy. Absorbing energy from the electromagnetic radiation makes heat.
Edit: whelp, TIL
The magnetocaloric effect can do this. Instead of the target absorbing energy, the magnet does. The magnet heats up and the target cools.
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The reverse microwave. I heard you need a LOT of freon.
Falcoooone
I don’t know if it’s a stupid question or not but I have been wondering this myself for years. :)
Fridge, well. But now I'm wondering if that would be possible with electromagnetic radiation somehow. Would it be possible to direct infrared waves away from a closed chamber, making the inside cooler? Like a semipermeable membrane in shoes with water vapor?
Cold doesn't exist, it is merely the absence of heat. Easier to insert heat than remove it, same reason why you can put on warmer clothes in the winter, but you can't make yourself cold in the summer.
Besides freezers I don’t think there’s any technology we know that could do this on a wide range of substances. But freezers are neat - they move heat from the inside to the outside and as they are insulated they can reach temperatures 40-50 degrees (Celsius) under their surroundings
You can get "freezers" that will put part of their inside down to 250+c below their surroundings. (Helium cryocoolers)
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