Cooler Definition and 65 Threads

A cooler, portable ice chest, ice box, cool box, chilly bin (in New Zealand), or esky (Australia) is an insulated box used to keep food or drink cool.
Ice cubes are most commonly placed in it to help the contents inside stay cool. Ice packs are sometimes used, as they either contain the melting water inside, or have a gel sealed inside that stays cold longer than plain ice (absorbing heat as it changes phase).
Coolers are often taken on picnics, and on vacation or holiday. Where summers are hot, they may also be used just for getting cold groceries home from the store, such as keeping ice cream from melting in a hot automobile. Even without adding ice, this can be helpful, particularly if the trip home will be lengthy. Some coolers have built-in cupholders in the lid.

They are usually made with interior and exterior shells of plastic, with a hard foam in between. They come in sizes from small personal ones to large family ones with wheels. Disposable ones are made solely from polystyrene foam (such as is a disposable coffee cup) about 2 cm or one inch thick. Most reusable ones have molded-in handles; a few have shoulder straps. The cooler has developed from just a means of keeping beverages cold into a mode of transportation with the ride-on cooler. A thermal bag or cooler bag is very similar in concept, but typically smaller and not rigid.

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  1. Z

    Why Do We Sweat in Cooler Temperatures?

    Our normal body temperature is 37 degrees Celcius. Then why do we perspire even at a temperature lower than 37 degrees (say 30 degrees) ?
  2. J

    Proving That Copper Is Cooler Than Room Temp

    I'm looking for a good article or string that would help me win a bet with a friend that is occasionally accurate...but not on this. Does anyone have any advice as to how to prove that I'm the winner of this bet? The bet is based upon a discussion as to why my brand new liquid-cooled heat sink...
  3. M

    Can Increasing Pipe Diameter Enhance Home Water Cooling Systems?

    Hello, First of all, i would like to introduce myself to Physics Forums. I am a Mechatronics Engineering Graduate. Me and my friend have a small project for the house, since we live in a hot area, we decided to design something to cool water at home. We came up with an idea which says that we...
  4. P

    Explaining the Physics Principle of Vortex Coolers

    Hi all, Can anyone explain the physics principle of this kind of cooler. Thanks
  5. G

    Ideal heat exchange for welding cooler?

    Hello, I arrived here following links to "heat exchange". I've got a small (200amp) tig welder and would like to move up to a water cooled torch. I'm building my own cooler in my workshop. I'm challenging myself to fit a cooler into the smallest package possible, the only limits being my...
  6. N

    Optimization of an evaporative cooler

    Hey all, I'm struggling to even start this problem: An evaporative cooler design uses a rotating wheel that is placed upright (vertical) and is partially submerged in water. The center of the circle is above the waterline. Let R be the radius of the wheel and x be the distance from the...
  7. T

    Colder Water, Cooler Air: The Impact on Cooling Efficiency in Air Units

    If a cooling element in an air unit was designed for water temperatures of 7C in and 12C out, how much "better" will it become if it receives water at 2C ? Let's say the return is then 7C, will the effect then be the same since the delta T is the same as it was with 7/12 ? It just seems so...
  8. Q

    Question about Ice in a drink cooler

    Hi, This is not directly related to any assignment but I have a question. Is it better (meaning the drinks in the cooler will stay cold longer) to leave the cold water in a cooler or to drain the cold water out of the cooler. Personally, I am inclined to think that you maintain a higher...
  9. B

    Night Sky Cooler: Can Hot Water Cool?

    I have a basic question regarding black body cooling. Suppose a person at sea level on a clear night, were to use a hot water solar panel which is a good black body, and contain it in a box in a vacuum with a 'window' that was very good at transmission of long wave ir 'looking' only at the sky...
  10. T

    Cooler water to the radiators farther away?

    I'm wondering about radiators. A system runs with a supply and return temperature of 90/70 degrees C. But won't only the first few radiators have this actual temperature since the water reaching the radiators far away will have cooled considerably on the way...? How does one make up for this?
  11. N

    Computer at risk if I use water cooler?

    My room is very hot. I plan to use this product to keep my room cool: http://tinyurl.com/holqu Will my computer be at risk if I leave this on almost 24/7?
  12. N

    How Do You Design a Cascade Cooler for an Air Separation Plant?

    Hi Experts :smile: Finally I think I found the correct space to assist me from experts. I need urgent help from u pp about the Cascade Cooler. We r doing a project in our college as final year BE, Mechanical students in India. We have choosen to Design the Cascade cooler which is used...
  13. A

    Would a Hot star have more mass than a cooler one?

    If you had 2 identical stars, one was a very hot star, but the other was cooler. Since mass is relative to velocity, shouldn't the hotter star be more massive than the cooler one since the atoms in the hotter star would have more kinetic energy and therefore a higher speed?
  14. O

    Rosie the Riveter vs Norma Jeane Baker: Who Was Cooler?

    Who was cooler... Rosie the Riveter http://www.rootsweb.com/~usarra/poster.jpg [/URL] for proving that she can do what any man can do or... Norma Jeane Baker for being what no man could ever be?
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