refrigeration

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How did people keep food cold before refrigerators?

Components of a refrigerator. A compressor pressurizes the refrigerant gas, heating it and forcing it through the system. The gas cools and liquefies in the condenser, giving up its heat to the outside air. The liquid's pressure is lowered when it passes through an expansion valve, and there is an associated further drop in temperature. The cold liquid then passes into the evaporator coils, where heat drawn from the warmer refrigerator compartment causes it to vaporize. The gas is then returned to the compressor to repeat the cycle.

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Figure 13: A Maxim machine gun, belt-fed and water-cooled, operated by German infantrymen, World War I.

7 Deadliest Weapons in History

Los Angeles Police Department wanted flyer on Elizabeth Short, aka the "Black Dahlia," who was brutally murdered in January 1947. The FBI supported the Los Angeles Police Department in the case, including by identifying Short through her fingerprints that

America’s 5 Most Notorious Cold Cases (Including One You May Have Thought Was Already Solved)

Several red apples with cut apple in the foreground.

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Bakers Dozen of Donuts, or Paczki's

Why Is a Baker’s Dozen 13?

Cuban Bee Hummingbird (Mellisuga helenae) single adult male, Zapata peninsula, Cuba, Caribbean.Bee hummingbirds are the smallest birds in the world.

Queen Mab’s Stable: 7 of the Smallest Animals

The Colosseum, Rome, Italy. Giant amphitheatre built in Rome under the Flavian emperors. (ancient architecture; architectural ruins)

New Seven Wonders of the World

refrigeration: Media

Videos

How did people keep food cold before refrigerators?

How did people keep food cold before refrigerators?

Learn how ice was harvested from the Illinois River system and distributed for home...

Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Images

Components of a refrigerator. A compressor pressurizes the refrigerant gas, heating it and forcing it through the system. The gas cools and liquefies in the condenser, giving up its heat to the outside air. The liquid's pressure is lowered when it passes through an expansion valve, and there is an associated further drop in temperature. The cold liquid then passes into the evaporator coils, where heat drawn from the warmer refrigerator compartment causes it to vaporize. The gas is then returned to the compressor to repeat the cycle.

Components of a refrigerator. A compressor pressurizes the refrigerant gas, heating...

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