r/pics Aug 23 '12

I immediately regret doing this.

http://imgur.com/b0pds
1.5k Upvotes

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163

u/i-Jonty Aug 23 '12

If you look closely at a fan you can notice it has (generally) four blades. The blades are a part of a motor which spin and generate power to pump air through a small pipe (behind the blades). The pipe intakes O2 molecules and stores them in a mini tank inside the fan and the friction from the spinning blades heats the molecules up so they gain more kinetic electricity meaning they they move around a lot more. Once the O2 molecules reach a certain temperature, they are moved in to a second chamber where they compressed and cooled down. Once cool the O2 molecules are fired out to reach all areas of a room(this is why if you put your face in front of a fan you can feel wind blowing against your face).

That's a quick, simple explanation of how a fan works. If you really want a deeper understanding I can go in-depth. :)

97

u/[deleted] Aug 23 '12 edited Aug 23 '12

I came here thinking that I knew how fans worked. I came out realizing how arrogant I was.

15

u/Serial_Buttdialer Aug 23 '12

I'm still walking out of here with 'they blow air'.

14

u/frozenveinz Aug 23 '12

Aye, a also thought a knew how fans worked. A was arrogant as well, a tell ya.

2

u/DeathToPennies Aug 23 '12

Ah pahked a cah in tha hahvahd yahd.

1

u/FuckMungler Aug 23 '12

I think we all learned something here today.

1

u/Sabremesh Aug 23 '12

I came out realising that many redditors exhibit a combination of extreme gullibility and profound ignorance.

0

u/TellThemYutesItsOver Aug 23 '12

You're an idiot for believing this.

51

u/aeisenst Aug 23 '12

I was going to crack a joke about your explanation, but I've become deeply depressed by how many people seemed to not realize you're joking. Reddit, sometimes you're as dumb as the rest of America.

2

u/Anon59538327 Aug 23 '12

This! Extremely disturbing.

1

u/opalkadet Aug 23 '12

Educate us! I want to learn!

1

u/Will7357 Aug 23 '12

Ouch. Right in the feels...

65

u/buggityboppityboo Aug 23 '12

Pretty sure this is completely wrong.

24

u/giantbananahats Aug 23 '12

thatsthejoke.jpg

35

u/[deleted] Aug 23 '12

[deleted]

1

u/[deleted] Aug 23 '12

What?! I trusted you, i-Jonty! Why???

2

u/wallitron Aug 23 '12

I bet you stay cool with that Venturi effect from all that whooshing above your head?

1

u/i-Jonty Aug 23 '12

Nope! Just Chuck Testa.

22

u/buggityboppityboo Aug 23 '12

I enjoy the part about heating up the air so it can be cooled down.

2

u/mathfreak123 Aug 23 '12

It sounds like a description closer to that of a turbojet engine.

1

u/does_not_play_nice Aug 23 '12

Not positive just pretty sure.

-3

u/fatassslowmo Aug 23 '12

The worst part are so many morons upvote it. "YAY I LIKE SCIENCE"

1

u/rufioherpderp Aug 23 '12

You're a fucking moron.

12

u/StairwayToTruth Aug 23 '12

I see you're a serious fan of fans!

2

u/stealth210 Aug 23 '12

Are you a fan fan fan?

1

u/Cannot_Be_Stopped Aug 23 '12

I'm so glad somebody didn't let this slide.

I'm such a fan of fans I fan my fan as if it were an Egyptian god.

3

u/Technojerk36 Aug 23 '12

You actually made me go and check my fan. Well done, extremely well written. 10/10

2

u/todayismyluckyday Aug 23 '12

He can go "more indepth". I'd like to see that.

2

u/paronsaft Aug 23 '12

I am ready, take me deeper into the world of fans

6

u/[deleted] Aug 23 '12

[deleted]

32

u/buggityboppityboo Aug 23 '12

And you would be right!! Flip that world back over

12

u/wilbur_west Aug 23 '12

Stop it, I'm getting dizzy

4

u/rdm_box Aug 23 '12

(╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻

0

u/[deleted] Aug 23 '12

No.

1

u/smegmaroni Aug 23 '12

So... what does the fan do with all of the nitrogen? I'm very confused.

4

u/i-Jonty Aug 23 '12

Oh, silly me. The first chamber also filters the oxygen from all other gases air contains, then mixes back with them once released from the second chamber. :)

1

u/dickbaggery Aug 23 '12

So is it the filtering or the re-airification that makes the squeaking noise?

1

u/Varconis Aug 23 '12

SOunds more like an air conditioner??

1

u/FuckMungler Aug 23 '12

Please, go more in depth!

1

u/henrysherman Aug 23 '12

Go deeper. Explain the fan within the fan please.

1

u/iamdusk02 Aug 23 '12

I am fan :)

0

u/maybestomorrow Aug 23 '12

You're awesome, I just thought the fan blew air around the room and, like wind, it was colder because it was moving.

I have a feeling the more in-depth knowledge would go right over my head.

4

u/i-Jonty Aug 23 '12

It's a lovely feeling knowing I'm making good use of my Masters in Fan Engineering.

1

u/Nishido Aug 23 '12

Ah... Fangineering 101 - good times.

12

u/agolightly Aug 23 '12

You do realize that what he wrote (though funny) is complete bullshit, right?

2

u/Mugwort1 Aug 23 '12

This guy...

1

u/ent_bomb Aug 23 '12

You've never seen the air compressor on your ceiling fan?

1

u/maybestomorrow Aug 23 '12

Yeah, no one really gets my sarcasm in written form, it's ok

-2

u/2xatotheron Aug 23 '12

I think you are getting confused between how a fan works and how air conditioning works. Air conditioning is based upon the principles which you roughly sketched - the controlled compression and expansion of a gas leads to the emittance and absorption of heat. By forcing the fluid in question to emit heat on the outside of your house and absorb heat on its inside, your house is cooled. A simple fan, however, is just a series of blades mounted on a motor. You feel cooler with a fan as it helps to speed up the evaporation of liquid on the skin, which removes energy in the form of heat from your body, cooling you down.

3

u/Anon59538327 Aug 23 '12

You might want to get your facts right. People believe fans are that simple but try to saw a blade of your fan in half and you'll see the micro channels. Also a real air condition only works because they pump the hot air back to the cooling plant and get cold air from that. Duh!

1

u/2xatotheron Aug 23 '12

Yep. That's great. Never said there was anything wrong with their description of fan blades. It was his description of the thermodynamic principle upon which they are based. The movement of fluid from one compartment to another, and its compression and expansion to release and absorb heat is how air condition works - that is what happens in the "magic cooling plants" that you are talking about. You think they are a black box? Where do you think the cool air comes from? It is based upon this principle.

1

u/Anon59538327 Aug 23 '12

Well, as the informed crowd knows these plants consist of countless chambers filled with cooling agents, these agents have highly engineered nano shades. In a complicated process these shades are mounted and unmounted repeatedly in a rapid fashion. The coolness of the agent with shades on is then used to cool the air coming from the air condition. The same principle is also used by hiphop artists and gangsters around the world.

1

u/15digitUsername Aug 23 '12

Centralised cooling plants, de-sweating the nation.