Is it true that ... ?

Question

If you get stuck in a fridge, you would be physically unable to push the door open from the inside?

Something to do with the vacuum, I believe.

Have I been 'had' ???

Answer 1

No it is not true. There isn't any difference in pressure outside or inside a fridge.
The problem is with the door of the fridge.
Older types were able to open only from the outside. They were equipped with a lock handle that wasn't able to open from the inside!
Try not to get yourself inside a fridge with a lock handle!

Answer 2

Well George, the answer is an unqualified maybe.

Someone mentioned walkin fridges and they generally have a safety push handle so we'll skip right over those and go to the ones that are sitting in kitchens across the country.

Years ago, they were called ICE BOXES....no plugs not nothing ..just a big lump of ice that kept the box cold.

To do that the box was insulated (naturally) and had a latch on it that squeezed it shut with a lever-type action when you closed it.

The lever would then latch and keep the unit sealed (this was also important because as the ice melted inside the water level would rise. You needed to keep the water inside.

Anyway.. when Refridgerators came into the world the same latching system was carried over. It looked like a gate latch and sealed and locked the fridge. Variations of that latch continued thru the 80's or so. Yes... you climbed in there and it was closed, you were locked in and worse, since the nature of a fridge is to be air tight, you soon suffocated.

Magnets and spring loaded doors solved the problem and most of todays fridges do not have latches. Climb in and enjoy the view.. see if the light really DOES go off.. then just push on the door and it will open.

Not that this is a good idea.. the Darwin Awards are issued annually to people with good ideas like this.

so.. You decide if you have been had or not.

Best of the Seasons.....

.

Answer 3

I think that you will be able to push the door.

I do not see the difference between a force applied from the outside or from the inside by a human.

Sure there will be a small pressure drop while we try to open the door from the inside but it is the same thing when we try to open it from the outside.

Also, I think that designers will have thought of this and put some safety that allows the opennig if ever there was a problem like this.

Answer 4

You could certainly push open a fridge closed with magnetic sealing strips from the inside.

However, some early fridges had a latch mechanism that operated when the handle was pulled (or via a push button). This could only be operated from outside, so you could not push your way out of that kind of fridge. Because they were not walk in fridges they had no safety mechanism inside.

Answer 5

You've been had.

If you can pull it open, why wouldn't you be able to push it?

There have been cases where children have become trapped, but that's usually in chest freezers where they just weren't strong enough to lift the lid and hold it up while they climbed out, or where there were external catches.

Answer 6

I swear to God that you can push the door open from the inside.
My chocolate has been doing it for years, the mrs swears it's not her!

Answer 7

help me im stuck in the fridge
cant open the door
alli have is this laptop here
please send someone to save me
im getting hungry

Answer 8

Yes i heard that growing up kids would get stuck in them (when they were out side left for garbage) and kids would play and hide in them, and were not able to get out and die of lack of air.

Answer 9

I have never been stuck in a fride myself but I do hear this and wonder why

Answer 10

Never heard of this one....maybe I'll go and try it...just need to find a fridge big enough!!!